Lifted
by Jiu-jitsu dude
Summary: Emerald had a long list of things that were dumb. It included, but was not limited to, Huntsmen, Beacon, and Jaune for being obsessed with the first two. And here she was, trying to help him achieve his dumb dream. Guess that made her dumb too.
1. Prologue

***Taps internet* This thing still on?**

**As always, Cr00cy is the man. Thanks to Burkion and Demetrion for sanity checking me on this.**

**Written in the style of Steven Brust, one of my all time favorite authors.**

* * *

Let's make a deal.

I'll tell you no lies and you won't judge me.

Sound good? Ok, let's try it.

I like pineapple pizza.

See, you're doing good! I feel the judgment a little bit, but you're holding back. Let's try another.

I belt out 'Mirror, Mirror' every morning in the shower.

Ok, you slipped a little on that one, but I'm not apologizing for shit. Here's the big one. You ready?

I think I hurt a lot of people today. Like...a lot a lot.

Yeah, that one is a bit harder to swallow.

It's important to me, and I'm not entirely sure why, that you understand why. That means telling you a story. So, buckle up, it's not like we're going anywhere.

Where to start? Oh!

Way back when, when I was just a kid on the streets, I used to steal. Well, I still steal, but it was more out of necessity then. Now it's about fucking with people. Anyway, you know who I loved to steal from the most? Big guys. Big guys think they're invincible. They walk around with this weird swagger, like they can't be touched, like the bad shit in the world is going to pass them by. But hey, it worked for me, so I didn't really give a fuck.

Is it ok if I cuss? Cause I'm gonna.

But this brings us to the beginning of our story, because Papa Arc?

He was, and is, a big motherfucker.

12-year-old me thought she was smooth as shit, sneaking up on this big-ass guy, his wallet hanging halfway out of his back pocket. He was in a jewelry store, one of my favorite hangouts, trying to buy something for his wife. I waited till he was talking to the owner, laughing that loud-ass booming laugh of his, and made my move. It was smooth, a simple slip and bump. Apologize to the guy, and be on your way with his wallet. Most guys, I was a few blocks away before they even realized something was missing.

But Papa Arc?

Not a normal guy. He rounded on me so fast it made my head spin. Snatched up my wrist, his wallet tightly gripped in my hand, and lifted my tiny ass up off the ground. I promised you that I wouldn't lie, so when that giant was staring straight through me with those piercing blue eyes? I started crying. It was not a pretty cry.

Hey, these aren't all going to be proud moments.

As it turned out, Papa Arc was a gigantic softie. You wanna know what he did? Asked me my name. I told him, between blubbering, 'Emerald.' He just shrugged, told the shop keep that he'd promised his wife that he'd bring her a jewel, and started dragging me out of the store. Remarkably corny, the men of the Arc household.

But Em, that sounds like kidnapping, you say.

Probably, but I wasn't really in the position to argue, you know? Papa Arc drug me all the way to the city of Mistral's airship docks, trying to tell me that I was going to be ok, that he was going to take care of me.

I was about 99% sure that I was about to get murdered.

I certainly wouldn't be the first kid that it'd happen to, and I wouldn't have been the last. So, you can imagine my surprise when I showed up at the Arc household, fully expecting to get sacrificed to this dude's weird god, and Mama Arc opened the door.

Let me tell you about Mama Arc for a minute. She is both beautiful and approachable, that's the best I can do to describe it. I have no idea how she pulls it off. She smiled at me, said something that actually calmed me down, a feat at that moment, and I thought, 'maybe this guy is pretty normal after all.'

Then I got swarmed by his horde of blonde children. Mama Arc? She's a goddamn saint for bearing eight kids without straggling her husband. I love them all, but the one that sticks out the most?

Jaune.

Oh, that's not to say the Arc sisters aren't sweet. They taught me how to dress, how to do my hair, how to sing (kinda), and so much more. But Jaune?

Jaune is my best friend.

Jaune taught me to dance, how to camp - forest are bullshit by the way - covered for me when I got in trouble, would lie for me when I'd tell Papa Arc that the outfit that I left the house with was the one I was going to wear at the club.

Me? I taught Jaune all the best curse words, how to cheat at cards, showed him how to lift someone's wallet, you know, if he needed to. I may have gotten Jaune in trouble, but it was just to make him live a little. Hell, I was Jaune's first kiss.

Hey, we talked about this no judgement thing, don't make it weird.

Jaune made me feel normal. Made me feel like I belonged. I can never repay the Arc family, and I certainly can't repay him.

This is a lot of setup to say, when your best friend, the thing that you value most in this world, turns to you and says-

"Em, I'm going to Beacon. I'm taking Crocea Mors."

The first thing you do is feel a little bit of pride in your heart at the thought of him stealing something. Hey, I didn't say it was a good thing. The second is ask-

"When do we leave?"

* * *

**Well, I'm back folks. Going to be trying my hand at first person, so we'll see how this shakes out.**

**I tried to come up with a grand plan of how I was going to put this out, but...life. Turns out I work better with a deadline.**

**Chapter One is next week, then it should be one every two weeks after that.**


	2. Moonlit Walks and Beatings in Vale

**Lifted**

**Edited by the one and only Cr00cy**

**Lulu-chan was kind enough to provide us with the amazing cover art of Em. I highly encourage you to go check them out on Twitter, Pat reon, and Pixiv**

**I've always enjoyed Em, she's one of the most human characters on the show. She's self-interested, vulnerable, wants love and acceptance, and isn't afraid to be a bit of an asshole. Oh, and all the snark. Always the snark.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Moonlit Walks and Beatings in the City of Vale**

Let's talk about Jaune for a minute, shall we? I feel like it's going to kinda set the stage for a lot of this. Anywho, Jaune Arc is a puppy, simple as that.

'But Em, why is he a puppy?' You ask.

Well, he's overly friendly, can't be told no when he wants to play, and has that weird 'I need to protect this thing' aura going on.

'Aww, Em, that sounds really nice!' You say.

Well, he also has zero survival instincts, is prone to making messes that others have to clean up, and can be one of the loudest and most annoying things on the planet.

So yeah, a puppy.

And like every human being worthy of the title, when I look back, I wish I had been better to puppies.

* * *

"So, what's the plan?" I asked as we walked down the dimly lit streets of one of Vale's shadier corridors. Well, I walked, Jaune kinda stumbled along. That boy gets motion sick like you wouldn't believe.

Jaune, for his part, stared at me with his big, stupid, lovable puppy face and said. "I told you. I'm going to Beacon."

I fought to keep from rolling my eyes. "Yeah, I caught that when we hopped on a Bullhead in the middle of the night. Any idea as to how you're going to get in?"

He shuffled a little in place. "Well….."

I stopped. "Jaune."

"You're going to get mad." He said, refusing to look me in the eye.

"No, I'm not." I promised with an even a tone as I could manage.

I was.

"So, I met this guy online-"

"Sounds solid already."

"-And he said that he could forge me an application." He explained.

I let out a sigh of relief. Ok, it wasn't as bad as I thought. "Ok, where are supposed to meet this guy for the exchange?"

Jaune cocked his head to the side. "Exchange?"

"Yeah, you know, the money for the docs?"

His eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh! I already paid the guy. We're just picking up the transcripts."

You ever get so mad that you consider doing something that will definitely make the 6 o'clock news? Apparently some of it bled through to my face, because Jaune winced and took a step back.

"Is that bad?" He asked.

"Nah, Jaune. I'm sure we can trust…"

"G3nt13manTh31f420." He provided.

"-to be an honorable sort. I mean, I've never heard of anyone taking advantage of people over the internet."

He sighed. "Em, you're doing that thing with you voice."

"What thing, Jaune?" I asked, innocently.

I knew the thing.

"It's like sarcasm, but somehow even more condescending." He accused.

"Whatever do you mean, Jaune?" I asked, my voice getting steadily higher and angrier. "Why would I be upset about you dragging me out to Vale without money or a plan, hoping that you've met the one trustworthy Mistrilean prince in the world?"

"Hey, I didn't make you come." He shot back, which was good, because I wanted to fight.

"Me or any other woman," I mocked, just to be a dick. "And yeah, and I'm sure that _nobody _would have gotten weird about it if I stayed. 'Huh, Jaune left and stole something. I wonder who could have possibly given him that idea.'''

He scoffed. "They wouldn't have blamed you."

He was right, but I've never let that stop me before.

"Oh? You can see into the future now? Well that's good, cause the last time I checked, we're poor in Vale and hoping that your Vacuian bride site buddy pulls through. Tell me, when that shit blows up in our face, what are going to do?"

He sighed in frustration, like I was the asshole here, and had the balls to say. "It'll work itself out."

I had a good little laugh at that. "It'll work itself out? How's that going to happen, Jaune? You think that the answer is just going to fall into our-"

The sound of glass shattering filling the night air as a guy in midnight black suit crashed through a window of a Dust store and down on the street in front of us, his blood red sunglasses half falling off his face as he moaned and collapsed shut me right up.

Seriously though, what kind of an asshole wears sunglasses at night?

The answers, as it turns out, is a whole fucking bunch of them. These guys started pouring out of the building their buddy had just emergency evacuated, chasing after the little red lolita goth girl that hopped through the window a moment before. They began encircling her, promising all manner of devious things before pulling out their-

Ok, I realize now that I'm saying it aloud that it sounds like I'm describing a very different scene. Look, I don't care what you type in the search box, that whole 'don't judge' thing works both ways. Point is, they were pissed.

"We've got to help her!" Jaune said at the same time I got out:

"We should leave."

He glared that 'very upset puppy,' Jaune glare he does so well.

"Em!" He demanded.

In my defense, she was currently kicking eight kinds of shit out of the bros in black. This was going very differently than how these videos usually did. Good for her.

"Fine!" I groaned, reaching for my holstered gun-sickles. "Just remember.. "

"Go low, go often. Yeah, yeah." He yelled back as he ran off to join the fight.

If he wasn't such a dick about it, I probably would have been proud.

What is there to say about the bang bros fighting style? It was rough for sure. The first tried to hit me with a biiiiiiggg overhand chop of his axe, which I stepped out of the way before bashing him with the blunt end of my sickle. Papa Arc taught me well. As it turned out, that was a good choice, because said jazz enthusiast fell to the ground in a slump and started bleeding more than a little.

These guys didn't have Aura. I'll tell you what, as fun as a murder rap sounds, I was pretty glad I hadn't just removed ole boy's head from his shoulders with the sharp end of 'Theif's Respite.' Also, I don't want to hear it. It's my damn weapon, I'll call it what I want.

"Jaune, these guys are squishy!" I warned, before planting a foot in the next usher's groin, much to his horror. I'm never sure why they're surprised when I go for that, it's such a good option.

"Got it!" He grunted as he flattened his opponent with a shield bash that ended with a sickening _crunch_. That guy would be ok...probably. Concussions build character.

Goth girl wasn't doing too bad for herself either. She either had some form of speed Semblance or was on it, because she was wrecking shop on the backup dancers at hyper speed. That was, until a guy with a white trench coat and a bowler cap of all things stepped out to join the party. He popped up his cane-gun or whatever, fucking Huntsmen weapons man, and fired off a few shots at jailbait before booking it. Which coincidentally, was the best plan that I had heard all night. Goth girl apparently thought otherwise, because she chased him up the side of a building, where more and louder explosions ensued.

"We should go after them." Jaune said, because he's a fan of looking the gift horse in the mouth.

"Uh, no, we shouldn't." I countered, like the reasonable human that I am.

"Em, she could-"

The blare of sirens cut our conversation short. Never both or since have I been so happy to have the police show up quickly. Huh, must have been a nicer neighborhood than I thought.

"You ready to go now?" I shouted over their wail.

"We were helping people!" He shouted back.

"Sure we were, runaway."

"Shit." He hissed. "What do we-"

"Fucking run!"

Look, I love the Arcs and everything they've done for me. They've made me into the person that I am today. A better person than I would have been if I'd stayed out on those streets for sure. But if I were to tell you that the sound of police sirens and officers chasing doesn't make my heart beat a little bit faster and bring a smile to my face? Well, I'd be lying, and I think we had an agreement about that.

We ducked through alleyways, jumped over fences, and weaved between cars, till finally we stopped behind a Mistralian restaurant huffing and puffing, but safe for a moment.

"Gods, Em." Jaune panted. "That sucked."

"Don't be a pussy." I replied, definitely not about to cough up a lung myself.

He shook his head. "So, what now?"

"You got the meeting spot for your prince?"

"Yeah." He said, digging in his pocket and passing over a slip of paper.

"Cool, then you head back to the hotel." I said as I entered the address into my scroll and pocketed it.

His eyes widened at that. "What the hell, Em!? I'm not leaving you."

I rolled my eyes. "Calm down, drama queen. Only one of us has the weird illusion powers. It's going to be easier for me to get there on my own, rather than having to worry about dragging you along behind me."

"Gee, thanks. Really needed that confidence boost." He deadpanned.

"Anytime. You want to get into this goddamn school or not?"

He ran a hand down his face and cursed, one of the better ones I'd taught him. "Fine, meet back at the hotel?"

"Yep."

"And you'll call if anything goes wrong?" He asked, eyes searching my face for any hint of deception. Probably because he knows me too well.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, dad."

He shook his head as he found his feet. "Anything, Em. I mean it."

"Yeah, yeah, love you too, now get the hell out of here." I commanded. He mumbled something decidedly unflattering, but not necessarily inaccurate, about me as he peeked out from behind the restaurant and then started jogging down the street.

"Walk! Don't run!" I hissed after him and he pulled himself back into an awkward, and I mean awkward for Jaune, stilted gait.

It's remarkable how bad innocent people are at looking innocent.

I shook my head as I stepped out into the street a few minutes later, straightening my clothes and fixing my hair as I went. You want to stay clear of suspicion from Johnny Law? You act like you belong there. Like you own the damn place. I walked down the streets of Vale at a casual pace, playing on my scroll, passing at least half a dozen officers as I made my way to the entertainment district. Hell, I think I even pointed one in the wrong direction. Just for kicks.

Soon enough, my scroll _pinged, _and I found myself standing in front of a very nice looking club. Its tall black doors painstakingly crafted from fine wood with a neon sign above proudly proclaiming it 'The Club.' Hey, I never said the place was very original. I found it a little bit weird that there wasn't a bouncer at the door, keeping riffraff like myself out, but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I shrugged and pushed the doors open.

Your parents ever tell you that thing about not judging a book by its cover? Well, I didn't really have any, but Mama Arc gave me the gist. Anyway, that fit 'The Club' pretty damn well. Cause on the inside? It looked like shit. Black tables and chairs lay in shattered fragments along the floor, next to the broken glass of liquor bottles and half a dozen light fixtures that stood from floor to ceiling, buzzing and flickering as they attempted to flash their gaudy-ass light show once more. The whole thing had this weird monochrome seizure look that made me think that maybe the wreckage was an improvement. I was about to walk my ass back out when I got the oh so familiar-

"Oh fuck! It's another one!"

It's nice to be wanted.

I looked over towards the bar, a single piece of ebony wood, gods but they were sticking hard to that theme, and saw my welcome party. A giant of a bearded man wearing what was left of a nice suit, holding an ice pack to his head and two black-haired girls wearing white and red dresses who, true to the theme of the club, also looked like they had recently gotten wrecked. Super tacky dresses if you ask me, but I was a bit more concerned with the long claws and bladed boots they were sporting than any of their other objectionable fashion choices. I guess I found the bouncers.

"What the hell do you want?" The big guy growled as he reached for the club sitting next to him at the bar and the two girls found their feet, moving forward as they cut to my left and right. I raised my hands in surrender.

"Easy there, big guy. I come in peace."

"Look like a Huntress." He accused.

I tsked, eyeing the girls as they tried to move into my blind spots. "Yeah, well I'm not. I'm here to talk about a doc exchange. Sound familiar?"

He scowled. "Beacon shit?"

"Yeah, that's me. You mind calling off thot patrol over here?"

He grunted before calling to the sloot one and sloot two. "Mil. Mal. She's good."

I let out a sigh of relief as they peeled off, ignoring the calls of 'bitch.' I hadn't really been looking forward to two fights in one night. Things were so much easier when you could just take what you needed and be done with it. "Thanks…"

"Junior." The big man provided, shifting away from my on his stool and picking up his ice pack again. Real helpful kind of guy, Junior.

"Well, Junior, you my contact?"

"No." Real talker, Junior.

"Ok, you know where my-"

"Just take a seat at the bar." He snapped. "He should be here in a minute. If he's coming at all."

I sighed and walked over to the bar, sliding broken glass out of the way as I took a seat a few stools down from the big guy.

"Rough night?" I asked, just to get a rise out of him. Hey, I reserve the right to be an asshole to anyone who is to me first. To people who haven't been yet too for that matter.

He snorted as he grabbed an overturned bottle and started pouring himself a drink. "Nah, it's Tuesday. Come back on Friday, shit really gets out of hand." It's possible that there's hope for this man yet.

"Maybe I'll take you up on that." I allowed as I snatched a, mostly, unbroken glass off the counter. "What are we drinking, big cat?"

"I'm drinking…" he glanced at the bottle again, "bourbon. You were about to sit there quietly on account of you being in my bar and underaged."

I leaned back on my stool and spotted my prom dress fan club staring daggers at me as they sipped on martinis from the other end of the bar. I raised an eyebrow at the giant. "Yeah?"

"They're employees." He argued.

"Still illegal."

"Says the girl here to buy illegal shit."

"The thirsty girl here to buy illegal shit." I corrected.

He sighed as he lifted up the bottle and I held out my glass for what was a much healthier pour than I anticipated. Guy really was having a rough night.

"Thanks." I said, cause Mama Arc raised me right.

"Whatever." He grumbled as I started to knock the drink back. "Just don't-"

It got hard to hear him at that point because of the coughing fit I was having, bent double over the bar. Here's a pro tip, big strong Screwdriver and Margarita drinking girl you might be, but that the brown shit burns.

"Overdo it." He finished tiredly. "Can't handle your liquor, huh?"

"Burns!" I informed him, just in case he wasn't in the know.

"It's an acquired taste." He explained.

"It's garbage." I informed him, wiping the swill from my mouth.

He sighed again. Big sigher, Junior. Acts like he's got a bunch of stress in his life or something. "I could put it in an Old Fashioned and you'd probably like it, but…" he looked around the ravaged club, "fuck that."

"I'll bet you like old fashioneds." I grumbled, earning a small giggle from the popular girls' table.

He scowled, "is that an old joke or a-"

"Yes."

"You know, there's a great street corner outside you can go wait on. Given the way you're dressed, I'm sure that it won't be a new experience for you."

"Ouch, that stings. Especially from a guy named, John." I shot back.

He scowled. "How did you know-"

I hummed noncommittally as I flipped through his wallet on the bar counter top, rifling through his lien and sandwich cards. That got his attention. Don't really like being called a whore. Call it a personal preference.

His face twisted into a snarl, "You little-"

"Junior!" A new voice shouted from the door. "What the fuck! Are all your boys complete fuck-ups, or do you just save those for me?" Well, guess my guy was here.

The anger drained from Junior's face in an instant and the exhaustion returned as he spun around to face behind us. "Goddammit, Roman, I'm not in the mood for your shit. Where are the boys?"

"Hell if I know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Junior growled.

"I mean I don't know! We ran into Hunters!" The voice shot back.

Uh-oh.

"There's not supposed to be any in the city right now!"

"Yeah, how's that working out for you? Looks like you ran into some issues of your own." The voice snapped. "And who's that?"

Junior lazily gestured towards me. "Your customer. Says she bought some of your bullshit Beacon transcripts."

Roman groaned behind her. "Fine, let's just get this over with. At least one thing can go as planned tonight."

You ever know what's waiting for you, but you just kinda think that maybe if you don't look at it, it'll go away?

"You gonna turn around sweetcheeks, or am I walking?" Roman asked, clearly ready to do just that.

Well, when you put it like that. I spun around on my stool and smiled as brightly as I could.

"G3nt13manth31f420?"

I'll tell you, he turned out to be pretty fast on the draw. But the look on his face?

Worth it.

* * *

**Memory Lane**

I did what any sane person would do my first night in the Arc household.

I tried to run away.

Unfortunately for me, it was during one of the worst rain storms of the year, but what are you going to do?

I got up in the middle of the night, slipped out of the over sized and worn out clothes Mama Arc had thrown on me, and grabbed my old clothes – which was a _very_ generous term for them – and slowly, ever so slowly, started to sneak down the hall. I was understandably pretty wary at this point, since Papa Arc had proven to be some form of cat faunus with his ability to pick up on 12-year-old girl footsteps when he'd snatched me up earlier.

I spent what felt like half-an-hour tiptoeing my way past their door, praying that there weren't a bunch of loose and creaky boards in this already loony toons house.

There were.

Once I'd finally cleared that anxiety attack, I made my way down the stairs, which seemed to be trying to outdo the floorboards for being loud as fuck. From there, it was just a short walk through the kitchen to get to the back-

"What are you doing?"

You ever spaz the fuck out? I mean, like a cat does when you let off an air horn or throw down a cucumber around it? So hard that you actually fall to the ground? Then you try to play that shit off? It ever work out for you?

Yeah, me neither.

There was Jaune, sitting at the kitchen table, in the middle of the night, eating a gigantic bowl of Pumpkin Pete's.

I scrambled to my feet and straightened my shitty clothes like that somehow made the whole thing look less ridiculous.

"Nothin."

He stared at me for a minute, shoveling more of that sugary garbage into his mouth, before answering.

"Ok."

I didn't really know what to say to that, so I decided on the dumbest thing I could think of.

"What are you doing?"

He looked down at his cereal, looked back up at me, and just shrugged.

"Nothin."

"Ok." I said, because I'm not sure what you're supposed to say to that. Jaune just took another bite, chewed for about half as long as he should have, then asked-

"Ou 'ant ome?"

I looked at the door, the rain slamming up against the thick panes of glass like it was determined to break though, then back at Jaune, dry as a bone. I decided that I did kinda want to try some. You know, before I left for good.

And that's how I found out that I didn't like Pumpkin Pete's.

But I did like Jaune.

* * *

**The Storm on the High Seas**

**The lighting slashes through the night sky, illuminating our dire circumstances once more. Giant waves, far taller than the ship itself as far as the eye can see, all threatening to turn us over and throw the crew into the icy waters. Dozens of terrified faces stare out into the black abyss as darkness takes hold once more. We must do something if we are to survive this baby and see our ship to port. I spot a familiar face stumbling along the decks and reach out to right him.**

"**Crooc!"**

**The thunder is deafening as booms through the air like so many cannons, drowning out the cries of the sailors. I shake my head and try again.**

"**Crooc! Where is the captain?"**

"**There!" He points up to the wheel, where the Spooky one is fighting in vain against the pull of the ocean, Burk shouting directions in his ear.**

**Lighting rips through the night once more, and up on the mast I can see the Bear of Black and White and the Amorous Father working desperately with Demy to pull the sails down as the rain pelts them and the wind threatens to tear them from their perches.**

"**Crooc." I say as the darkness returns, and the sounds of the hull straining and groaning along with it. "We're not going to make it."**

"**No." He answers, as calm as always.**

**A brutal and heartrending crack fills the air one last time as the planks of the ships decks are torn asunder and we split from stem to stern. **

**I am falling. We are falling in the darkness. Tossed into the air like children's toys from the ship that we had thought invincible.**

**The last thing I remember is the dark and cold waters of fandom claiming me once more.**

* * *

I hope you're enjoying this weirdness. Just a reminder that the chapters are going to start coming in two week cycles from here on out.

Also, I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted to do this, but I decided to start a ko-fi page. I'm using it save up money for when I stop being a pansy and decide to pursue publishing something original.

It's ko-fi dot com slash jiu_jitsudude

If you feel like you'd like to throw in a few bucks, I'm honored. If not, I'm still going to keep on writing. It's cheaper than therapy.


	3. Terms of Employment

**Lifted**

**Cr00cy, I think they're back...why are they back?**

**We're a day early this time because tomorrow will be busy, but expect us to rotate back to Monday releases after this. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!**

**Chapter Two: Terms of Employment**

* * *

_Roman Torchwick and Neo Politan are two people that I have very complicated feelings about, shaped by shared misery and mutual antagonism._

_I hate. I don't hate them. I un-hate them. Like would be a very strong word, but I wouldn't necessarily hate you for using it._

_They're selfish, they're arrogant, and they're survivors. First and foremost, they will always be survivors. And...I don't know, I guess that's just something that I get. I can understand that feeling._

_Again, doesn't mean I'd piss on them to put them out if they were on fire, but…_

_I also really hope they made it out._

* * *

Let's talk about gun violence for a minute, shall we? That sounds like fun, doesn't it?

You get all these movies where you see a guy, who sometimes has never touched a gun before, and they whip that shit out one-handed and shoot a guy in the head from across an airport. You ever try that shit? It's fucking hard.

Hell, even pulling the pistol out smoothly and calmly takes a lot of practice. Especially in different positions, like, I don't know, sitting on a shaky bar stool in a recently wrecked club. But here's the kicker, my reaction to seeing a gun pointed at me generally hasn't been to remain calm. It's usually somewhere more along the:

_Fuckohfuckholyshitfuck_, train of thought. Maybe you're a lot cooler than I am, but I kinda made that whole 'no lies' promise thing up front.

Point being, I was really proud when my pistol came out smooth and my hand didn't shake. Too much. Cause on the inside?

I was shitting myself.

You're not supposed to let the other guy know that though, so I just stared Torchwick down, not trusting myself to not say something dumb. Junior didn't have that problem though.

"What do you think you're doing!?" He roared at Roman. Well, probably Roman and me, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

"I'm about to remodel a section of your bar for you, Junior." The man jerked his head to the side. "Step away for me, won't you?"

Fuck, how is he being that smooth right now?

"No. Nuh-uh. Not happening in my bar!"

I felt my finger start to choke up on the trigger as I watched Roman do the same. "I'm pretty sure it is, big guy."

I briefly thought about trying to hop behind the bar for cover before Junior, in either one of the ballsier or more 'I'm fucking done with this' moves I've ever seen, stood up and moved between us.

"Not a great place to be, big cat." I warned, my mouth finally working again.

"Shut up." He shot back. Apparently we weren't friends like that. "Roman, you don't come into my house with this bullshit." He said, jabbing a finger towards the mobster. "You either talk it out here like adults or you take that shit outside. My bar has seen enough for one night."

The fashion disaster stared Junior down through the barrel of his ridiculous ass weapon for a minute before letting out a long sigh and letting it fall to his side.

"Always making things harder than they have to be." He grumbled. "Fine, let's just get this over and done. What do you what, girly?"

"Not to be called 'girly' for one, but I'd settle for those transcripts."

He barked a laugh at that. I could tell that we weren't probably going to be friends. "Well, I think you're going to strike out on both fronts, girly. I'm not too inclined to be too generous at the moment. It's been a bit of a disappointing night."

"How does it feel to be on the other side of that for once?" A snort from Thot Patrol told me the girls thought that was funny, which was good news. I was in trouble if all these guys were on good terms. Shockingly, Torchwick wasn't a fan.

"I've changed my mind. How would you like to step outside for a minute?" He asked, spinning his cane theatrically.

"No." Junior snapped again before pointing at a stool at the bar. "Sit." And to my surprise, Roman did just that. He grumbled the whole way over, but over he came, pulling out the stool and leaning back against the bar.

"You mind if I smoke?" He asked the air as he fished a cigar out of his coat pocket.

"Not really a fan." I said as he pulled out a lighter and began to toast the end anyway. What an asshole.

"Oh? That's too bad." He replied, purposefully puffing smoke in my face as he turned towards me. "Now, I believe we were discussing payment."

I snorted. "We were discussing delivery. You got your money."

He laughed at that. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that shit. Who pays for something like that without proof of delivery anyway? Not very smart, girly."

I silently counted to ten and promised myself that I'd be having a long conversation about elicit business ethics with Jaune after this.

"Someone's not too bright anyway." I snapped. "Now hand it over."

He sighed and shrugged. "Unfortunately, no can do."

"Pretty sure you can."

"Yeah, I could do a lot of things if I was so inclined." He took a long drag of his cigar and blew it right in my face. I fought to keep from giving him that satisfaction of exploding into a coughing fit. "But I'm not."

"And why's that? The cost of mascara go up?"

"As a matter of fact, I think it has." He leaned in, bringing his face and burning cigar practically next to my own. "I think it's gone up something to the tune of a few hundred thousand lien. Strangely enough, that's the same cost of you walking out of here on your own two feet." His hand shifted subtly towards his cane. "Sound fair to you?"

Good rule of thumb for intimidation, you should always try to dominate as much space as possible. It's called personal space for a reason, and when you take that away from someone, they start to sweat. I know I did.

But here's the fun thing about having an illusion Semblance, you don't have to have a great poker face as long as your opponent thinks you do. I let Roman think I was staring him down while I took a quick glance around the room. Junior was watching us tensely, the bimbo twins by his side, ready to jump in if we started to destroy his bar. Well, what was left of it. He didn't look too concerned about Roman's little offer though, which meant I was on my own.

Shit.

"Hey, girly." Roman growled, drawing my eyes back. "I asked you a question."

"Hm? Sorry, got lost in your guyliner."

"Cute. Let me try one more time. Hell, I'll even bring it down to your reading level for you." He offered with a small flourish of his cigar, before making a _very _unsubtle move towards his weapon. "You pay me, or I start fixing up this bar by giving everything a fresh coat of paint. I'm thinking red. Sound fair to you?"

That dried my throat out just a bit. I was stuck. I may make people's shiny things disappear from time to time, but I didn't have near that kind of dough. Worse, it didn't look like anyone was going to be jumping to my aid any time soon. I needed to get out of there, and fast. I started to draw on my Aura and used my Semblance to let Roman see what he wanted to see, a frightened and vulnerable girl, not too far off from the truth, and let my hand fall towards the gun on my hip.

"Yeah, Roman, sounds real fair." I said slowly.

As my hand touched the grip of my pistol, I felt something cold press against the side of my neck. Now, everyone reacts to having a knife, or at least I assumed it was a knife, could have been a pitchfork-knife-bazooka combo knowing Hunters, held to their throat a little differently. I've seen people break down and freak out, which is pretty understandable if you ask me. I've seen people get angry and loud, not my personal suggestion, but hey, you do you. I've seen people try to play it cool as long as they can and talk their way out - Roman seemed like the type. I've even seen some people straight up deny that it's happening to them, which just turns out awkward for everyone.

Me?

Well, I tend to sit up real straight, stop doing anything that can remotely be considered threatening, and become a very attentive listener. I know, because it's what I was doing right now. You're welcome to tell me how I could and should have reacted in said situation, but until you're the one with the knife to their neck, you're also free to go fuck yourself.

Roman, smug bastard that he is, just grinned a saluted with his cigar.

"I see you've met Neo."

I grunted as the blade bit a little deeper and my Aura flashed. He tsked.

"Don't be rude, girly, introduce yourself."

I briefly considered lying, for whatever good it'd do me, but decided against it because they could always check my scroll and I like my neck how it is. Intact.

"Emerald. Charmed." I offered weakly.

He hummed. "I don't think it fits."

"I dunno, always kinda thought it worked with the hair."

"True, but you're not very bright. Not with trying to pull something like that..." He motioned towards my weapon. "...in a place like this." He cocked his head to the side. "Did you really think that you could come into my house-" Junior coughed somewhere behind us and Roman sighed. "My _friend's_ house and threaten me?"

I felt like saying that he started it, but once again, sharp things scare me.

"You know I can't pay you if I'm dead, right?" I blurted out, real smooth like.

He chuckled. "Oh, don't you worry your little six out of ten little head. I intend to make you pay off every last lien. I'm putting you to work."

What I thought about that must have shown, because I has only about halfway to my revolver before Neo slammed my head down on the bar, denting the dark wood and pinning me in place with her blade. I looked up in a panic at a confused Roman with my eye that wasn't currently admiring the wood grain pattern Junior had selected. A second later he blinked and rolled his eyes.

"Maidens, not like that. I want to make money, not scare people away."

"Go fuck yourself." I growled.

He laughed and pointed with his cigar. "Yeah, see? Completely the wrong sales pitch for that line of work. No, I think I've got something else in mind. Something based on that little magic trick you just pulled. It's your Semblance, right? Tell me about it."

"I make people see things." I made an unflattering noise as my head got ground into the bar further.

He sighed. "Details, please. I'm assuming that it doesn't work on everyone in the room since my partner there spotted what you were up to."

"I do illusions, they only really work on the person that I'm focusing on." Now, that's not entirely true, but a girl got to keep a few secrets here and there. Roman watched me for a minute, seeing if I'd spill anymore before looking across the room.

"Junior?"

I heard the big guy grunt from somewhere behind me. "Yeah, I saw her go for it. Dumb brat."

Hurtful, big cat.

Roman grinned as he looked back down at me. "Girly, do I have a deal for you. Not only do you get to walk out of here on your own too feet, but guess what? You get to put those neat little tricks of yours to work here on a nightly basis. Doesn't that sound exciting?"

The blade grinding against my neck told me that indeed, I should be excited.

"Hooray." I exclaimed.

I fucking tried, ok?

"What are you planning, Roman?" Junior grumbled.

"Why Junior, my good friend-"

"We're not friends." The giant said.

"Junior, my dedicated business associate." Roman corrected without breaking stride. "I just found you a ringer for your little fun and games down stairs."

None of this was sounding remotely better.

"I don't need any help." Big cat shot back.

Roman hummed as he looked around the bar. "You sure about that, Junior? Looks to me like you're going to be operating in the red for a while."

"I'll manage." Junior answered defensively. "It's just going to take me some time to get back on my feet."

Roman sighed at that. "Time you know we don't have, bestest buddy. Not with the bitch in red hanging over our heads."

"I still blame you for that." He countered.

"Doesn't really matter one way or the other anymore. Now, you gonna take this or leave money on the table 'cause of pride?"

As the 'this' in question, I felt the need to insert myself into the negotiations. Also, Junior's bar was sticky. I coughed.

"Can 'this' get up now?" I asked.

He shot me a bored look. "Depends, is 'this' going to behave?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Sure, next time Neo can put you through the bar."

"No she won't!" Junior snapped.

I sighed. "I'll be good."

Roman shrugged and nodded to whoever was holding me down. A second later, the cold pressure on my neck disappeared and I groaned as I picked myself up off the bar, admiring the face shaped imprint in the dark wood. Rubbing my neck, I turned to see who had gotten the drop on me. And wasn't that a blow to my pride?

I swear that I wasn't trying to be an asshole when I looked straight over her. Well, that time I wasn't at least. She helpfully brought my gaze down with a kick to the shins.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed.

The little multicolored lolita complex grinned evilly and waved.

"Ah, glad to see you're getting along." Roman cheered as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. Creep. "So, what do you think, Neo? Is our new friend going to make it on team Roman?" The imp huffed and pointed to herself while stomping her foot. The thief sighed, do you think she's going to make it on team Neo?" He corrected.

The miniature woman smiled brightly before looking up at the ceiling, tapping her finger against her chin. After a minute, she stuck out her tongue and pointed a thumb down.

"Well, good thing you're a terrible judge of character then." He replied.

"Is it too late to go back to the ass kicking?" I mumbled.

"Never, girly."

"It's Emerald."

"Girly." He agreed.

I slowly counted to ten and pushed down the urge to make another go for my gun.

"And what exactly am I doing on team Roma-" Lolita shot me a glare. "Team Neo?"

Roman laughed and slapped me on the back a little harder than necessary as he let me go. "That's a good question, girly. Junior, why don't you fill her in?" He suggested as he snatched his cane off the bar stool.

"Don't you leave me with this." The big guy growled.

The thief shrugged innocently as he started to make his way towards the door, Neo in tow. "Sorry, old buddy, I've got damage control to take care of. Our mutual acquaintance isn't taking tonight's botched job too well. Thanks for that by the way, girly."

"Anytime." I offered, finding that I felt a little bit braver now that I didn't have a sword pressed up against my neck.

"Don't make a habit of it." He advised, twirling his cane meaningfully as he neared the door.

"Hey!" I shouted after him. He stopped and turned slowly, glaring at me. I imagine it might have been menacing if I wasn't infinitely more worried about his little murder machine starting to walk back my way.

"Yes?" He drawled.

"I want those records." Maybe I'd gotten a concussion earlier, 'cause I'm usually not quite so dumb.

He looked at me for a second, seeming to consider whether or not to sic Neo on me, before shaking his head and chuckling. "You've got guts, girly."

That is very much untrue.

He sighed and reached into his coat, pulling out a small flash drive and tossing it my way. I caught it and nodded at the thief.

"Thanks."

He laughed again as he turned and made his way back to the door. "See that, Junior? I taught her manners. You're welcome."

"Go fuck yourself, Roman." The giant shot back.

"We'll keep working on you." The man lamented as he disappeared into the darkness of the night, leaving me standing next to a very upset Junior. I smiled weakly and held out a hand.

"No hard feelings?" He stared at my outstretched hand like it was covered in shit.

"You're paying for that bar."

Well, at least we're starting off on the right foot. As Junior led me down the stairs in the back of the club to his basement, and damn if that still doesn't sound creepy, I decided to work on our budding friendship.

"So, do I get to choose which torture device you're going to use on me first, or is there like a roulette wheel? I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself."

"You're lucky I don't water board you with that bourbon you like so much with that shit you pulled." He said.

We weren't the jokey kind of friends yet apparently. But for real, I'm was pretty concerned about this basement situation. A concern that wasn't eased at all when we reached the bottom of the stairs, coming to a stop at a giant red door with a demon head knocker growling back at us. I felt the urge to tell him how that made me feel, but for the sake of my continued well-being and Junior's blood pressure, I decided to go with:

"What's this?"

"Where you'll be working off your debt." He answered.

My hand may or may not have unconsciously shifted towards my weapon again. Luckily, big cat didn't notice.

"Stop that. It's not like that."

He may have noticed.

"But we can agree that this looks real sex dungeony, right?" I asked.

He sighed as he fished a set of keys out of his pocket, selecting an ancient, ornate looking thing. You know the one, the one that looks like it goes to your grandma's house or your diary. They're harder to pick for some reason by the way. Let's not worry too much about how I know that. I couldn't help myself when he slotted the key in the door and turned it with an ominous '_thunk.'_

"See, your silence and that key aren't really helping the situation."

He chose to ignore me again, which is both a solid policy and really fucking annoying. He swung open the door and revealed a pitch black room that reeked of smoke and alcohol. I'd already opened my mouth for my next incredibly clever comment when the big guy reached out and flicked a switch next to the door. Whatever I'd been about to say died on my tongue.

It was fucking magical.

Poker tables, roulette wheels, craps, and slot machines of every conceivable shape and size covered every inch of the giant, spacious room. No game of chance was left out. Hell, I think I saw a bingo section in the corner for the old folks. Plush red carpets with golden accents covered the floors, created corridors along with the machines that led you from one station of sin to another. There was a stage that dominated the center of the room, a raised obsidian platform that you could see from anywhere along the casino floor. I felt my jaw drop as I tried to take it all in.

"Finally, something shut you up." Junior mumbled approvingly.

"It's a casino!" I articulated.

"Yeah, looks that way."

"You own a casino!" I was batting a thousand.

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, I do. Is it so hard to believe that I might have another source of income?"

"Buy why!? How!?"

He snorted. "Cause money and human tendency, in that order."

"The club-"

"A front, one that helps us launder the cash from this little wonderland." He explained. "People like to drink, and the club does alright for itself, but you know what people really like to do? Gamble while they drink." He shrugged. "I'm just the guy that provides them a place to do both."

I shook my head. "But isn't gambling illegal in Vale?"

You ever say something so stupid that you wish that a bus would hit you, just so you wouldn't have to be in that conversation anymore? The look big cat shot me certainly didn't help.

"Yeah, I've got a feeling that this will be the least of our worries if the cops ever really start to dig into our business."

"Why don't they?" There you go brain, a legitimate question. Good for you.

"Money and human tendency, kid."

"My name is Em." I corrected. "And that doesn't really answer my question."

He eyeballed me for a moment before deciding that it wasn't worth the fight.

"Well, _Em_, we pay off the police when we need to, but it's hardly ever necessary. That law is one of the least popular in the country, and no one gets hurt here, so it's a victim-less crime. I pay my taxes, so it's not like the city isn't getting their cut."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "You pay taxes?"

He smirked. "Well, I pay some taxes. Several members of the Council have been known to frequent here, so nobody has been in a rush to audit me yet."

I whistled. "This sounds like a pretty sweet gig."

"It is."

"So, why the Dust robbery thing?"

He winced at that. "Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to, ki- Em."

Well, it'd been worth a shot.

I hummed. "And where do I fit into all of this?"

"You," he said, clapping me on the shoulder. "Are going to be working down here."

"I think it's going to take a while to pay off my debt as a cocktail waitress."

"Stop being a smartass." He growled, to which I had a good little internal chuckle. "You're going to be using that Semblance of yours to shift the odds in our favor when needed."

"That sounds like cheating." I pointed out.

"How ever will I live with myself?" He deadpanned.

I felt my appreciation for Junior growing.

I shrugged. "Ok, sounds easy enough. When do I start?"

He scoffed. "Right fucking now. I don't know if you recall, but the club is in shambles thanks to that Huntress bitch, and we're going to put your ass to work."

I felt my appreciation for Junior drop steeply.

"You're making me clean?"

"Yep." He said, popping the 'P' like an asshole as he jerked a thumb back up the stairs. "Ask the girls where we keep the brooms and such. That's not really their thing, but I've got a feeling the boys aren't going to be too happy to see you."

Oh yeah, that.

"But I've got to get back to my hotel!" I protested.

"No, you don't. As far as I'm concerned, you're on house arrest until Roman or I say otherwise. Don't need you disappearing into the night. There's a room upstairs you can use." He offered.

It took a lot of effort not to tell Junior that I wasn't his dad, and that I wasn't going to be disappearing into the night while going out to buy a pack of smokes. I decided against it because, A) survival instincts, and B) I realized he had no reason to trust me. So instead I just huffed like the mature adult I am and said:

"Fine, but can I at least call my friend?"

He shrugged and turned to start heading up the stairs. "I said house arrest, not prison. Do whatever you want." He paused and looked back over his shoulder. "As long as 'whatever you want' includes cleaning up the bar. Close the door behind you."

I sighed and nodded, too tired to argue. I pulled out my scroll and dialed the familiar number. Jaune's concerned face lit up the screen roughly a nano second later.

"Em! Thank the gods, are you ok!?"

I smiled for him, trying to put him at ease. "Yeah, I'm doing...good."

He scowled at my tone. Never was great at keeping secrets from Jaune.

"Em, for real, what's going on?"

I winced. "So, I've got good news and bad news."

* * *

**Memory Lane**

I learned something very important about Jaune the morning after our little impromptu meeting in the kitchen during my failed runaway.

Namely, Jaune Arc wasn't a snitch.

That little blond insomniac didn't say a goddamn word at breakfast. Just sat there, in the exact same place that was the night before, eating the same gross cereal. Seriously though, who likes Pumpkin Pete's?

I guess the cereal thing is besides the point. The point is, I was suspicious...but also kinda hopeful. You don't find a lot of people out there that'll keep their mouths shut just for the sake of it. So, I waited as Mama Arc packed up our lunches for the day, which turned out to be amazing, and shooed us out the door to go to school. Now, that doesn't sound like a lot of prep work for having a new kid, but in her defense as a parent, she did hand me a note that explained who I was to the Arc family to give to the school and sent Crystal, the oldest of the Arc sisters, to watch over me.

On the other hand, she clearly wasn't aware that Crystal had a boyfriend that she beelined off to drive to school with every morning. She also didn't figure that I'd ditch the note as soon as Crystal booked it. Mama Arc is not always the best judge of character. Sees too much of the good in people. That's probably where Jaune gets it, come to think of it.

This left me in a pretty interesting position. My head was still telling me that I should run from this crazy ass family before I found out there was some real demon worship stuff going on in the Arc family basement, being on the back of a milk carton was not the kind of famous that I wanted to be. But my heart, dumb two-drink-Tina for kindness that she is, demanded that I know why he hadn't ratted me out. So instead of pushing Jaune down and making a run for it, I followed him down the dirt road towards the bus stop, staring at his X-Ray and Valve backpack and trying to think of some way to express my gratitude and ask him why he'd done it. I decided on-

"What the fuck was that about?"

Jaune just turned and looked at me over his shoulder. "Mom says we're not supposed to curse."

"Fuck what your mom says." I shot back, which is another reason I know Jaune's not a snitch, because if Mama Arc had ever heard that, she would have kicked my ass. "Why didn't you tell them I tried to run away?"

He shrugged, which I was learning is a very Jaune thing to do. "I just thought you wanted some food."

Well shit. If he didn't know I tried to run before, he sure knew now. I coughed and tried to put my patented Em charm to work to recover the situation.

"Uh, yeah, that's what I meant...why didn't you tell your mom that I was trying to steal your food?" Em, you wordsmith.

He gave me a look that said he thought I was as stupid as I currently felt. "Uh, cause it's your food too?"

Just like that. I was a total stranger and this kid had accepted me as part of his weird family. Was willing to share his food with me. That may not seem like a lot to you, but coming from a pretty calorie strained environment, that was unbelievable. As a side note, it's also unbelievable that someone hasn't kidnapped all of the Arc children at this point with how trusting the family is. We reached the bus stop at the end of the road and I searched for a tactful way of asking what I wanted to know. I went with-

"Hey, hypothetically-" That was a pretty big word I knew that I was pretty proud of, "if I had been running away...would you have told your mom?"

Jaune chewed on that for a minute, humming as he made little circles in the dust with his sneaker. In the distance, I could see the bus starting to approach. I needed an answer now.

"Would it have stopped you from wanting to run away?" He asked after awhile.

"No." I answered immediately, watching the bus turn from the main street onto the smaller road that we were waiting on. He took a lot longer than I was comfortable with before replying.

"I guess not. I mean, what would be the point, right? You either want to be here or you don't."

And just like that, I decided that Jaune was a guy that I could trust. Provisionally, of course. I still had to see how cool he really was. And as the school bus came to a squeaky, screeching halt in front of us, I decided to do just that.

"Hey, Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"You know what three card monte is?"

* * *

**Strange New Ground**

**The first thing that I remember after the seas swallowed me was the feeling of cold sand against my cheek. I let out a low groan as I pushed myself up off the beach and spat salt water back down into the surf. **

**It was then that the panic seized my heart.**

**I shot up to my feet and scanned my surroundings. Sand. Dunes of dark, cold sand as far as my eyes could see in either direction, with a black, ominous cliff standing sentinel over the sea. But my crew?**

**My crew was nowhere to be seen.**

**I began my slow, torturous walk along the sands, picking up one of the ship's discarded oars along the way to use as a crutch. After what felt like hours, I had almost given up hope. It was only then that I saw him, his fine uniform hanging in ruined tatters off of him, torn by the harsh seas of fandom.**

**Sir Crooc. **

**I rush to him and we fall to the sands once more in relief, exhausted survivors in a strange land. After a few moments of rest and greeting, I place my hand on my old friend's shoulder.**

"**Crooc, what is this place?"**

**He shakes his head. "I'm not really sure, some place odd." He jerks a thumb back towards the way he came. "There was a sound back that way though."**

"**A sound you say?"**

"**Aye, a deafening crash, over and over again. I know not what it is, but it is the only other thing I've seen or heard."**

**I sigh as I push the oar into the sand, straining against it to rise once more and holding a hand out for Crooc. "Then I suppose we best be off. It shant investigate itself."**

**As we journey back the way Crooc was marooned, the noise did indeed reach our ears. A terrible boom that repeated over and over again like a giant striking an enormous drum. As we grew nearer and the sound grew louder, Crooc point to a narrow path leading up the cliff face, towards the noise. Our accent was perilous, and we both nearly fell, but up we continued to climb. All the while, the noise grew more and more clear and clear, until we understood it not to be one boom, but hundreds of booms, constantly answering each other back and forth. It was only when the crested the cliff that we understood why. To our great horror, as far as the eye could see and the mind could conceive…**

**It was a battlefield.**

* * *

Well, I'm having fun. I hope you're having fun.

If you decide that you feel so inclined, I'm at ko-fi dot com slash jiu_jitsudude

Once again, I'm still going to keep on writing either way. This just helps with future projects.


	4. Donuts and Armed Robbery

**Lifted Chapter Three**

**Donuts and Armed Robbery**

**Cr00cy still hasn't stopped this madness**

**Cr00cy: Why would I?**

* * *

_Junior's club was many things; terribly named, obnoxiously color schemed, a literal prison for most of my time there...but you wanna know the weird part?_

_I kinda miss it._

_Maybe it was the free drinks, don't tell Junior. Maybe it was the shitty music. Maybe it was all the gambling and taking easy marks for all they were worth._

_And maybe, just maybe, it was the people._

_I wonder if it's still standing. I hope so._

* * *

You ever have that moment where you find out work is work, no matter how cool it sounds? Like, no matter how much you like the thing you're working with?

Take ice cream for example. I like ice cream, you like ice cream, we all scream for that shit and yada yada. It's delicious and wonderful.

You ever work in an ice cream shop? Shit goes from a sweet shop to a sweatshop real quick.

Turns out, gambling works like that too. Cause I like to gamble, I like it a lot. You know what it turns out that I don't like? Watching other people gamble.

But here I was, dressed up my ridiculous new uniform, black slacks and a white button up shirt with a matching black vest and red bow tie, doing just that. Junior had been very insistent on the uniform part, said that 'we want people staring at their cards, not your tits. That's what the waitresses are for.' A real charmer, Junior.

But that wasn't really what was pissing me off, at least at the moment. No, that honor currently belonged to the weasley looking fellow sitting across from me at my blackjack table. The one that had been staring at his five of spades for the past five minutes like he could will it to change if he believed hard enough.

"Sir, would you like to hit or stay?" I asked for the third time, trying not to grit my teeth while I did so.

He licked his lips and looked up at me pleadingly. "What should do?"

Leave my table.

I took a deep breath and let it out, willing myself to be calm. I couldn't afford to yell at a customer. Three times in a day is too many. At least, so I'd been told.

"Well, I'm showing six, which means that I'm going to have to hit. What I would suggest is-"

"I want to hit!" He cut me off.

I tried not to smile at the slump in his shoulders when the ten hit the table. Tried being the operative word.

"Sir, would you like to hit or stay?" I asked sweetly.

"Stay." He mumbled dejectedly.

Shockingly, when we finished making our way around the table, Mr. Weasel had bust. Imagine that. As it turns out, most people's love for gambling is directly proportional to how much they suck at it. As it also turns out, watching those people bomb got old a lot faster that you thought it would.

But hey, at least Jaune made it to Beacon. Speaking of Jaune...I slid my scroll out from under the table to read through the messages he'd been sending me this morning.

_They made us camp out on the floor for some reason last night. Headmaster seems like a bit of an oddball._

_Em, the breakfast here is awesome!_

_Man, you wouldn't believe how big this place is. The campus is beautiful!_

_Gotta go! They're calling us out for initiation! I wonder what it's going to be?_

I couldn't help but grin. At least one of us was living the dream.

"Are you supposed to be looking at that at the table?"

My gaze shot up to find Mr. Weasel glaring at me accusingly. Apparently he wasn't a fan after the last couple of hands. That's ok though, the feeling was mutual, and I can glare with the best of them.

"Sorry about that, sir. Are you going to be playing this round? I'd _love_ to deal you in." I growled as I leaned halfway across the table. The other people at the table apparently got the message, as they had the decency to shift back in the seats. Mr. Weasel wasn't quite so smart.

"That's better." He sniffed. "And yes, deal me in."

Oh, this motherfucker was about the have a rough go of it. I started to let my Semblance take hold as I shuffled angrily, glaring at him the whole time, till a hand fell on my shoulder and the gruff voice of one of Juniors boys whispered in my ear.

"You're needed over at table three."

"I'm busy." I hissed back.

He looked over at Mr. Weasel and the meager pile of chips in front of him. "You don't look busy. Table three has more action anyway. Guy over there is on a real hot streak."

"Give me five minutes and I'll make a seat for him here."

He shook his head. "Table three is 500 lien a hand minimum."

"Oh."

That's right, I was supposed to be 'helping' the house. I sometimes forget when I'm contemplating stabbing someone.

"Yeah, 'oh'." He agreed, gently pushing me away from the table. "Don't worry about this guy, I'll deal with him. He's done."

I sighed and nodded. "Thanks…"

"Chris."

"Thanks, Chris." I said again, before setting the cards down and clapping my hands together. "Well, that's my cue for break, folks. You've been great. I hope that you stay as lucky as you've been."

"I'm down 500." Mr. Weasel grumbled.

"I hope that you stay as lucky as you've been." I reiterated, earning a chuckle from Chris and the rest of the table, and a glare from Mr. Weasel. But hey….

Fuck him.

I weaved my way around the bustling crowd of the casino's, sorry, 'The Red Room's,' floor towards table three. I will say this, dumb names aside, Junior apparently knows how to promote, cause this place was always full regardless of what day of the week it was. As I got closer to the table's zone, I started to scan the crowd. Sure enough, there he was, standing near, but not too near, the table in question, silently watching the action. I made my way over to him and settled in beside him.

"What's up?"

"Atlesian rich kid is playing with a lot of daddy's money over there." He said, not taking his eyes off the man. Guy couldn't have been much older than I was, but the massive stack of chips in front of him said he was doing a lot better at this whole game of life thing than I was.

"I thought that's what we like."

He grunted. "I like it when they're losing theirs, not winning all of ours."

"When's the dealer go on break?"

"Right now." He made some vague gesture with his hand and the dealer nodded, stepping back from the table and thanking the players. "You ready?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Is he drinking?"

Junior hummed. "A bit. He's been getting into it a bit more as he's been winning. Why?"

"Good, keep sending them. It'll make this next part easier." I answered as I started towards the table, eyes locked on our high roller. Sure, I could have explained what I meant to Junior, but where would the fun in that be?

I smiled as stepped behind the table, introducing myself and asking if I could get them anything before we started. After a series of polite refusals, I picked up the decks and started to shuffle. I've always loved cards, the feel of them, the sound of them slapping together, the ritual of shuffling them just right. I especially love the lien that they bring me.

I eyed our high roller's drink as I began to deal. Still half full, but that was ok. We had plenty of time, he wasn't going anywhere. Unsurprisingly, he continued to win the next few hands. Some people just have hot streaks, I've given up trying to figure out why. It was more than that though, the guy was just good. He knew when to hit, when to stay, when to split. Hell, he was even helping some of the other players at the table - if only to more easily predict what was coming next. He seemed damn near unstoppable.

Then the waitress showed up with his drink, a nice and tall jack and coke. On the house of course. Now I could get to work.

Here's the thing about being able to make people see things, it's an art. Sure, if it was just me and him sitting at a table I could just make either of our cards whatever I wanted and win that way, easy peasy. Hell, I could probably distract him fairly well without the Semblance - Junior was right, though I'd never admit it, that crop top thing I wear isn't an accident. But, with other people at the table, ones who could question his sudden losing streak and weird choices? Well, that's where the finesse comes in. You've got to start small, making him think he sees the old lady next to him get a face card, then watch the confusion on his face when he hits and bust for the same thing. If you're lucky, your cards beat the old lady's and he's never the wiser that she actually pulled a seven of clubs. But even if she wins and you have to let down the illusion real quick, what's he going to say? Must have just been a case of him looking at her cards too fast, right?

Here's where that drink comes into play. Our dear player doesn't much like losing, and wants a little bit of comfort. Luckily, Junior's waitress has made sure some is close at hand. Next time it's the guy two down from him that he sees get a five of hearts instead of a king, the time after that he thinks he gets a look at my card as I fumble with it for a second. Small, believable mistakes that seem to keep that sweet taste of victory just out of reach. But hey, he's got plenty of chips, so he's not going anywhere. He was on a streak after all! So, what does he do in the meantime while he's waiting for that streak to come back round? Why, he starts drinking again of course.

Now, that seems like a pretty obvious bad idea when you're sitting on the sidelines, but when you're in the moment? You just want to feel good. Winning felt good, and you _know _you'll be winning again soon, so you just do the next best thing in the meantime. You drink. You drink until you're making poor decisions all on your own, no illusions needed. But that doesn't stop you from playing, because you can't stop chasing that feeling. That high.

Isn't gambling fun, kids?

About half an hour later, and our friend was both a lot less sober and a lot less wealthy. As I watched him slowly shuffle up his remaining chips and say bye to the table I almost felt bad. Almost. Then he tipped me. Really, really well.

Then I felt like a right asshole.

I politely excused myself from the table and looked for Junior in the crowd. I made my over when I spotted him standing next to the roulette tables. He gave me a small nod.

"Not bad."

I scoffed. "Not bad? Do you know how much lien I just pulled down?"

"Do you know how much more you owe?" He shot back.

Some people just can't let you have wins.

"Anyone ever tell you you're kind of an ass, Big Cat?"

"No one that enjoys the full function of their limbs."

"Oooh, scary."

He sighed. "You're not worth the lien."

"You could always let me go." I suggested.

He snorted. "Not anytime soon."

Well, it was worth a shot.

"You have finished your shift though." He added, looking down at his very expensive looking watch. "You're clear till eight tomorrow night."

"Gee, what will I do with all my free time?" I shot back sarcastically.

"Anything but leaving here. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

I shrugged and smirked. "Okey dokey," I agreed, making my way towards the stairs, earning a frown from the big man.

"You'll figure out something quiet!" He called after me as I reached the door to the stairs.

Dammit.

* * *

As it turned out, Jaune was what I ended up choosing to fill my time. Shocker, I know, but when you're under house arrest in a city where you know literally no one besides the criminals holding you hostage, your options are limited. Plus he brought me donuts.

"Ow'd da 'ing go?" I asked around a mouthful of blueberry donut.

"You mean initiation?" He said with a small grin.

I swallowed and shook my head. "That makes it sound like you got jumped into a gang."

"I think I kinda did."

I snorted as I reached for an eclair, the king of donuts. "What'd they do, throw you at a bunch of Grimm and tell you 'good luck?'" I had the treat about halfway to my mouth before I caught his deadpan stare. "Wait, really?"

"Yes. After throwing me off a cliff."

I nearly choked to death on my eclair. Aura maybe pretty damn awesome, but fun fact, doesn't stop you from killing yourself with a pastry.

"You ok, Em?" Jaune asked worriedly as he rubbed my back.

"Fuck that!" I coughed out. "Are you ok? How are you ok?"

He shrugged weakly. "Lucky, I guess."

"Lucky? Jaune, you don't have Aura!"

He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, about that…"

"No way." I whispered.

His small smile grew into a cheese eating grin. "Yes way."

I squealed a little bit, very bad for my tough girl image, and threw my arms around the dork. This had been one of our biggest fears walking into Vale, getting Jaune's Aura unlocked by someone before he'd be called upon to use it. Unfortunately, Papa Arc had very carefully left that part out of my instruction because he, rightly, assumed I would have used it on Jaune the instant I knew how. Hell, I'm fairly certain he would have avoided telling Jaune about Aura altogether if I hadn't shown up. Not particularly fond of his chosen profession is Papa Arc. I thought that we'd have a little bit more time to stumble around in the dark and find someone that we could bribe into doing it discreetly before it became a necessity, but apparently the Headmaster of Beacon had a screw or two loose. But that didn't matter right now. What did matter was that, despite Aura's many failings at keeping my windpipe free of the scourge of eclairs, it would keep Jaune safe. Safe-ish.

"That's awesome! How'd you do it?"

He laughed. "I didn't do much of anything. Pyr, did it for me."

That made sense, must of been some guy he met during initiation.

"Who's Pyr?" I asked.

"My partner." He explained with a smile. "She's great! Total badass, knows everything about everything about fighting, and think she's even kinda famous!"

Huh, _she_. Whatever. I would have preferred Jaune to have a guy as a partner, boy desperately needs some male interactions given his family makeup, but it was cool. I promise.

"Sounds like you really lucked out."

He nodded. "Yeah, big time. The rest of my team seems pretty great too."

"Team?" I have no idea how these Hunter academies worked, and after hearing about Beacon's dumbass initiation I wasn't making any assumptions.

"Mmhm. We're split into teams of four based off what chess pieces we chose during initiation."

"You were playing chess? Was this before or after the Grimm part?"

"During."

"I don't-"

He waved his hand. "I promise it's not worth burning brain cells thinking about."

Fair enough.

I sighed. "Ok, so who else you got on your team?"

"Ren and Nora. Don't know too much about them yet, but they seem cool. I think they've known each other forever, kinda like me and you."

I grinned. "Awww weeee."

He smirked. "Yeah, Nora bothers Ren all the time too."

"Asshole." I shot back, slapping at his arm and feeling a sense of relief as I watched his arm crackle with Aura.

"That's so cool." He whispered excitedly.

"Unlike you." I teased, making his face drop a bit. Fun fact number two, Aura only protects you from physical wounds. I laughed and gave him a shove. "Don't mope! You're on a team with all girls! How lucky can you get?"

His face scrunched in confusion for a moment before something clicked. "Oh, Ren's a guy."

Thank the Gods. Maybe he could learn some manly stuff now, like...I don't fucking know. This is why he needs guy friends!

"Well, at least there will be one on the team."

"Two." He corrected.

"I know what I said." I smirked as he huffed, before offering him an olive branch in the form of a chocolate donut. "You guys have a leader or something? Though it sounds like that Pyr girl is a shoe in."

He sighed as he accepted the pastry. "Yeah, I would have thought so too."

"Not her?"

"Nope."

"Ren?"

"Nay." He said, sinking into his seat a little bit.

Oh Gods.

"Nora?" I asked hesitantly.

He groaned and slammed his head down on the bar. Not too far from my own face imprint funnily enough.

"But why!?" I may or may not have shrieked.

"I don't know!" He whined.

"You're like the worst choice!"

"Gee, thanks, Em." He shot back sarcastically.

"Tell me I'm wrong." I challenged, only for him to rest his head back on the bar. "Jaune, I love you, but this is crazy!"

"I know." He moaned into the table.

"I thought you were going to lay low!"

"It's not like I volunteered!" He defended. "The Headmaster just up and picked me!" He sat up and pushed imaginary glasses back onto his nose, adopting a mock deeper voice. "And the leader of team Juniper will be this obviously out of his league blond kid. That'll be fun for everyone."

Terrible situation aside, I remembered why I liked Jaune so much. That boy can take just about anything in stride.

I chuckled. "You're a dead man, you know that, right?"

He gave me a small smile and slumped in his chair. "Yeah, probably." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "So, what about you? How is your life ending today? You said you got a job here, right? I'm surprised they hired someone under-aged to work at a bar."

Look, I promised that I wouldn't lie to you, I didn't say anything about Jaune, so you take that judgement shit somewhere else. Besides, it was technically true.

I coughed and covered my face with a napkin. "Yep. Doing real great, don't worry about me."

He sighed with relief. "Well, at least one of us is."

See? He feels better. All I had to do was tell him a little white lie. Nobody got hurt, and honestly, how hard could it be to keep up?

"Girly!" A now unfortunately familiar voice boomed from the broken front door as Roman and his little murder machine chose that exact moment to waltz in. "Time to pay off some debt!"

You ever just wish for death? You know, like that would be preferable to having the conversation that you know you're about to have? Yeah, now imagine that that conversation is going to be with the world's most flamboyant thief. And yes, I'm aware that I tempted fate, but both you and fate are free to fuck off. Jaune, to his credit, his brave, dumb, dumb credit, jumped to his feet.

"Em, it's-" he got about halfway to his sword before I could open my mouth to warn him. I don't know how Neo moves as fast as she does, but an instant later there was a Jaune shaped imprint in the dark wood of the bar and he was flat on his back on the floor, the little psycho's knee pressing down into his neck, cutting off his air supply. Yesterday had been a good day to unlock his Aura.

"Get off." I growled, my hand finding the grip of my pistol as a threat. A very empty threat. A fact which Neo unfortunately seemed to know.

Neo is many things, and depending on when you asked, I might have different answers as to what those things were, but one thing she has been, is, and will always be is a bitch. It's just her nature. She grinned up at me, eyes twinkling in amusement, and nodded towards my weapon encouragingly, digging her knee further into Jaune's neck and forcing a painful cough out of him. I hissed and prepared to do something dumb. That is, until I heard the click of Roman's cane coming to rest behind my ear.

"Now, now. We have to stop meeting like this." He chided playfully, before pressing the barrel against my head. "Hands on the bar, if you don't mind."

I sighed and held my hands up in surrender. "I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt him."

"Awww, isn't that sweet?" He mocked. "Fortunately for you, I didn't come here today looking to have to bury a body. If your knight in dingy armor promises to be good and ask Neo real nicely, I'm sure she'll let him up."

Jaune attempted something approaching a nod as he frantically tapped on Neo's leg. The little bitch stared at me as tapped her finger on her lips like she was considering whether or not she would let him up for a minute before finally removing her knee. Jaune gasped for breath and covered his throat protectively, smartly not reaching for his sword again.

"See? We can all be friends." Roman said as he lowered his cane. "Neo, help the poor boy up."

The multicolored assassin dutifully pulled Jaune up to his feet and began mockingly dusting him off and straightening his clothes as he wobbled around, still short on breath. I relaxed for a moment and turned to tell Roman off before Jaune yelped and I had to fight to keep my hand from falling to my pistol again. He was rubbing his ass and glaring at Neo, who had the balls to look me in the eye as she mouthed, '_whoops.' _

Like I said, she's a bitch.

"Apologies, Neo can get a bit handsy sometimes." Roman explained lazily. "She didn't mean anything by it, did you, Neo?" The little monster just smirked and shrugged, earned a sigh from her boss. "Or maybe not. You all can sort out your hate boners on your own time."

"What do you want?" I snapped, feeling none too pleased with the way this all was going, or what it pointed to.

"Like I said, I'm here to collect on a tiny, tiny part of what you owe me, Girly." He said, leaning against his cane. "I've got a job for you."

"You already gave me a job."

"_Junior_ gave you a job." He corrected. "This is an independent contractor situation, minus the independence. You work for multiple bosses."

"What-" Jaune coughed again as he warily stared down Torchwick. "What's he talking about, Em?"

"You haven't told him?" Roman tsked. "You know what they say about being honest with your partner, right?" He shrugged. "Well, hopefully you do, cause I don't. I try to avoid honesty as a policy."

"Tell me what, Em?" Jaune insisted.

Remember when I said I wish I could just curl up in a ball and die rather than have this conversation? I just wanted to double down on that position.

"Jaune, I-" I swallowed, "the thing is…" I don't know if you've tried to explain that you've gotten yourself rolled up in what is essentially human trafficking, but I'm all ears if you've got suggestions as to how to go about it. Roman just rolled his eyes.

"She's working for me and the guy who owns this club as payment for that little stunt you two pulled the other night."

I guess you could just do it that way.

"Let her go!" Jaune growled, reaching for his sword again before Neo grabbed his wrist and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Your boyfriend isn't too smart." Roman observed.

"He's not my-" I cursed. "Jaune, just stow the heroics before she puts you on the ground again."

"But he-"

"It's fine." I assured him. "I mean, it's not fine, but it's kinda fine. Nothing weird is happening. I'm just...helping these guys steal a bit." Really it wasn't that different from the normal day to day.

"See? Just services rendered for an interruption in business. Nothing sinister." Roman comforted.

"We were stopping you from stealing!" Jaune argued.

"And?"

"It's illegal!"

"Oh yes, it's illegal." Roman drawled. "Tell me, since you've got such a good view from up on that high horse, do you think it's more or less illegal than paying for forged documents?"

Ok, it's definitely more illegal, but I see his point. Jaune was considerably less amused.

"She's not staying here." He growled.

Jaune, you brave, noble, idiot.

"Hey kid, I'm willing to let you test your ability to do anything about it. No skin off my nose. Neo doesn't get enough exercise as it is."

Jaune looked down at the little monster still attached to his wrist. She waved up at him and slowly shook her head. His shoulders slumped and she patted him on the arm comfortingly.

"Yeah, I thought so. Besides, you're right, she isn't staying here." Jaune's head popped up with far more excitement than I would have advised given who he was talking to. "She's going out on a job."

"She's not-"

"What kind of job?" I cut in. I appreciated the moral support, but this wasn't getting us anywhere.

"Glad you asked!" The thief said as he pulled out his scroll and began tapping away at it. "You see, I've got a schedule of Dust acquisition to keep for some very scary people, and thanks to you, I'm down a lot of good men. Well, men in any case." He amended after a moment.

I made a mental note that there were people that Roman Torchwick considered to be 'very scary,' and pressed again before Jaune could jump in.

"You want us to rob someone."

"Yep." Roman said, turning his scroll around show off a map with what looked like traffic routes and hubs highlighted on it. "Jacques Schnee."

Jaune scoffed. "You want us to go after the SDC?"

Hold up, us? Roman apparently shared my surprise.

"Uh, I wanted _her_ to go. I hadn't really planned on asking you, capable warrior though you clearly are." He finished, earning a silent snicker from Neo.

I was impressed with how well Jaune rolled with that particular punch. "I'm going with her."

Jaune, you dumb, dumb...dummy.

"Jaune, I don't think-"

"Great! Fuck it. I really couldn't care less." Roman shot back.

"If you'll excuse us for just one moment." I said as I grabbed my friend by the collar of his dumb hoodie and pulled him close. "What the hell are you doing?" I hissed.

"Backing you up." He challenged.

"Yeah? You and all your B&E experience?"

He tsked. "Like you've done anything bigger than pick pocketing."

Touche.

"Great, we're both out of league. Now I really feel better about the whole thing."

"Look, I'm not going to let my best friend walk into a dangerous situation alone." He looked away, "especially when it's my fault that you're in this situation in the first place."

Ouch. Ok, let's cover a couple of things real quick. One, I'm a weak, weak bitch for this emotional guilt type stuff, only slightly offset by the fact that I _know_ that Jaune knows this, and that if he puts the words 'best friend' somewhere in a sentence, I'll probably agree to just about anything. Two, in the interest of keeping up our full-disclosure agreement, I'm mildly terrified, so I'm not too ready to call him on his bullshit. I opened my mouth to say something poignant and heartfelt, but Roman beat me to it.

"Hey, flirt on your own time! I've got a schedule to keep here."

I sighed and squeezed Jaune's shoulder, nodding in thanks before turning around to face the bowler hat wearing goon.

"Ok, we're in."

He rolled his eyes. "I _know _you're in. I told you you were in."

"Just tell us the goddamn job!" I snapped.

"Fine," he grumbled, holding out his hand. "Give me your scroll."

I fished it out of me back pocket and handed it over, watching as he tapped it together with his own and they glowed with the transfer of data. He grunted and passed it back.

"There you go, all set. Be free to go forth and wreak havoc in my name." He said with a dismissive wave.

"Gee, thanks, boss." I muttered before snatching up Jaune's wrist and pulling him away from the little harpy, who waved at him enthusiastically, and towards the door. The sooner we got out of here, the sooner we could get away from these loons before anything else crazy happened, or even better yet - disappear from Vale altogether. I'm sure Mistral had a decent Huntsman academy Jaune could fake apply to.

"Oh, one more thing." Roman drawled behind us.

Goddammit.

My shoulders slumped and I didn't even bother turning around as I tiredly asked.

"Yeah?"

"You two need some adult supervision. Just to make sure you don't find something more entertaining to do than your job, you know, hormones and all that."

"We're not-"

"Neo's going with you."

That little girl maybe mute, but she made sure to clap loudly enough to let me know what she thought about the idea without having to turn around.

What a bitch.

* * *

**Memory Lane**

You know, as much as I love Mama Arc, I really felt like she acted far more shocked than she had any right to when she got called to the principle's office that first week of school.

I was far from house broken.

I was kinda shocked that we were there in the first place, all we had been doing was some harmless-

"Gambling!?" Mama Arc asked the principle with a gasp.

Yeah, that.

The dour older man nodded sympathetically. "I'm afraid so ma'am. They've apparently been putting together some kind of gambling ring over the past week. Playing blackjack or something or other."

"It wasn't blackjack." I muttered, earning an immediate and terrifying glare from Mama Arc. I weathered it as best as could be expected. Not well.

"It was three card Monte." Jaune supplied helpfully. He did even less well with the glare than I did, trying to sink down into his chair. Mama Arc rolled her eyes and looked back at the principle.

"What were they even betting on? It's not like they have money."

"Lunch money and candy apparently." The principle supplied, clearly not up to date on the universal no snitching policy. "They actually made a tidy little profit."

Mama Arc shook her head in disbelief. "I just can't believe that my little Jaune would resort to something like this."

You'll notice that there was a name missing there. I did.

The principle coughed. "Well actually, it seems that it was Miss Emerald that was actually running the card game. Young Jaune was being a...what did you call it again young man?"

"A hype man?" He offered.

A damn good one too.

"Ah yes, that's it." The older man agreed. "Now Mrs. Arc, I know that Jaune doesn't have any history with misbehavior, but please understand that we can't such behavior go unpunished."

She nodded back. "Oh trust me, it won't be. If you'd be willing to though, I'd ask that you leave this to me-" The principle started to open his mouth to protest, '-and Arthur." His mouth snapped shut.

"Of course." He quickly grumbled. "I'm sure that Mr. Arc can persuade the children without the school having to get involved."

"Believe me, once he's had a chance to talk with them, there won't be anymore 'three card Monte' going on at your school." She promised while staring us down. And she was right, after getting the third degree from Papa Arc, we did give that game up.

We moved on the blackjack.

* * *

**The Shipping War**

**Crooc and I stare in horror at the violence unfolding in front of us. Explosions continuously tear the earth asunder as artillery shell after artillery shell are fired from fortified and seemingly unmovable encampments, forming deadly rainbows in the sky before they slam into the ground with a terrible roar. In front of the fortifications are trenches, so deep that they could easily swallow a man whole, filled with men and women armed to the teeth with every weapon imaginable, all firing at twin trenches across the battlefield. There were no true battlelines, and fire and shells crisscrossed across dozens of different encampments.**

**Never have I seen such chaos. **

"**Crooc, what is this madness?" I whisper.**

**He just shakes his head numbly. "I don't know, old friend."**

"**Hey you two!" Both our gazes shift to an unhappy looking man sitting behind an unsteady looking wooden desk in front of the raging battle. "Yeah, you! Here to sign up for the war?" He asks.**

"**What war?" I ask Crooc, who just shrugs in return. We make our way over the grumpy looking fellow and I ask again. "What war, good sir?"**

**He scoffs and slams a hand down on the desk in irritation. "Why the Shipping War of course! We always need more bodies for the war!"**

**I shoot Crooc a confused look. "But sir, Shipping isn't about fighting, it's about building, it's about-"**

**The man cuts me off with an angry groan. "Not another one of you damn peaceniks! Why don't you ever learn? It's about fighting, it's always been about fighting, it'll always be about fighting."**

"**But sir, there's an entire sea of fandom right behind us." I tried again to explain, turning back towards the way we came. "There are ship builders and captains-"**

"**Can it, hippy! The only captain you need to worry about is Atic."**

"**Who?"**

"**Captain Atic, officer in charge of Topaz company and your new boss. Congratulations gentlemen, you've been drafted." He declared, slamming a massive stamp down onto a document that seemed to have appeared out nowhere. One bearing both our names.**

"**But we never agreed to-"**

"**NEXT!" The unhappy man roared. I started to tell him that we were the only ones here, but I felt Crooc place a hand on my shoulder, turning me around. To my shock, there was a line of people reaching out to the horizon itself, all looking as confused as we were. Two men in gray uniforms came up and snatched Crooc and I by the arm, dragging us towards the battle.**

**And so our war began. **


	5. Plan Girl

**Lifted Chapter Four**

**Plan Girl**

**Cr00cy, how do schedules work again?**

**Cr00cy: People use schedules? o.O**

**PS: I know this is late, but between moving, work, holidays, and a Muay Thai tournament I've got coming up in April...you're just going to have to bear with me.**

* * *

_I've had a lot of time to think over the past few hours. Real self-reflection type shit._

_One of the biggest things that I've wondered about is when I started to screw up Jaune's life by drawing him into my bullshit. Maybe it was the day I met him. Maybe it was when I decided to teach him how to steal. But if I had to point to one event, this whole SDC-heist abortion would probably be it._

_I've also been wondering about when I'm going to run out of air a lot._

_Fun times._

* * *

Whatever my complaints with Torchwick might be, I can't argue that the guy didn't set us up with good intel. The job in question was stealing a truckload of Dust from the SDC branch in Vale. Now, the simplest way to do it would be to hit one of the trucks as they were rolling through town on one of the routes that Roman had highlighted for us. The problem was, the SDC knew that too. Ever since Roman and his boys had been knocking over Dust stores like it was going out of style, the SDC had really started stepping up its game on protecting its most vulnerable assets.

The trucks now alternated routes randomly, carried around loads of Atlesian Knights, had chase cars, and supposedly there was a quick response force of bullheads ready to go somewhere in the city. Long story short, going after a Dust truck on the go was a bad idea unless you felt like getting into a big ole gun fight in the middle of Vale, which if you've been paying attention, you'll know is the last thing on my to do list.

Lucky for us, we didn't have to chase down a truck to get to the SDC's Dust. We were going to go straight through their front door. The plan was simple, head to the SDC's import facility at the docks and find a driver that I could impersonate with my Semblance before driving one of their trucks, with all the extra goodies disabled, straight out of the front gate. The only problems were getting close enough to the facility to pick a guy, getting that guy alone, and then only encountering one person at a time till I got to the truck.

See? Simple stuff.

Which brings us to where we are now, hiding behind one of the many, many walls of shipping containers at the docks, staring at the high chain link fence surrounding the SDC facility, our thumbs firmly up our asses.

Jaune looked about like I felt, eyes constantly darting back and forth, searching for any sign of a reason to bolt. I didn't exactly feel great about dragging him into a life - ok, let's be fair - a day of crime, but I was pretty well screwed without him. Neo certainly wasn't offering up any solutions, laying on her back on top of one of the shipping containers, kicking her feet lazily and texting away on her scroll.

"You mind helping out, Lolita?" I hissed up at her, banging on the side of the container. I got a firmly raised middle finger in response.

"Don't do that." Jaune said, shooting me a disapproving look.

"Wait, you're defending her!?" I growled back. "Jaune, she dropped you like an hour ago. You two have some kind of secret bonding session while I wasn't looking?"

He sighed, "the past is the past-"

"It was an _hour_ ago!"

He rolled his eyes in that way that he knew bothered me and continued. "Look, there's only the three of us out here, right? So we might as well try to work together."

"Cool, she look like she's in the helping mood to you?" I said, jerking a thumb back towards our _partner._

"Well, we could try _not _antagonizing her." He snapped.

"By all means, Jaune, go ahead and ask her real nicely." I mocked, not feeling particularly proud at the moment, but happy to argue as a distraction. "Maybe she'll see the power of friendship and decided to hop on down and help us."

He shot me a look before tilting his head up towards the kicking feet and clearing his throat. "Uh, Ms. Neo?"

The kicking stopped.

Looking up towards the miniature psycho, I watched her sit up and raise an eyebrow at Jaune.

He coughed. "Uh, not miss?"

She gave him a firm thumbs down.

"Sorry, is Neo ok?" He waited for her to nod before continuing. "Could you, um...could you please come down here for a second?"

To my eternal shock, the girl shrugged and hopped down, landing right in front of Jaune and leaning waaaayyyy farther into his personal space than strictly necessary, making him lean back so far he was almost tripping over himself. I would have done something about it, but here's the thing…

You only have to put my head through a bar once for me to learn my lesson. Pavlov's dog and all that.

Instead, when Jaune looked to me for help, I shot him a thumbs up and mouthed, 'you're doing great.' Hey, it's the thought that counts. Plus, Jaune brought this shit on himself.

The dummy swallowed and cleared his throat. "Well, you see, the thing is...this is kind of our first time doing this sort of thing…"

The Lolita complex smirked and nodded in mock sympathy. How do I know it was mocking? Cause it was Neo. Listen, you're just have to believe me on this one.

Jaune continued, undeterred. "And it just seems like you're more experienced with this type of thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that!" He quickly amended.

Gods, Jaune, can you not hear it?

Neo's smirk widened into a grin as she patted his arm comfortingly. Jaune let out a sigh of relief and smiled weakly.

"It's just...we're a little bit nervous, and we wanted to see if you wanted to join us. You know, show us the ropes a little bit."

The imp made an 'O" with her mouth and turned towards me as I struggled to keep from face-palming. Unfortunately, Jaune wasn't done.

"Just give us some pointers to make sure that everything goes smooth and nobody gets hurt."

Neo snorted silently, which I assure you looks as weird as it sounds...or doesn't sound...fuck it. Anyway, she fought her giggle fit down and started tapping her finger against her chin, making a show of considering his request. Finally, she shrugged and nodded. Jaune practically jumped for joy.

"Really!?" He coughed. "I mean, that's great! Thank you so much, Neo!"

The assassin held up a hand to stop him and then held up one finger. Jaune cocked his head to the side before his eyes widened in understanding.

"Oh, you want something in return!"

The girl clapped happily in return.

"Sure! Anything! Just tell us what it is!"

Neo's smirk returned as she spun on her heel to face me, a wicked gleam in her eye. Jaune looked back and forth between us for a moment before taking a guess.

"You want something from Em?"

The tri-colored bitch made a show of wagging her finger and silently chastising someone, before bringing both her hands to her chest and gasping in mock pain, then pointing back to me. I have no idea what the fuck she was talking about, but apparently Jaune speaks crazy chick.

I can already hear you starting in on the joke by the way. 'But Em, what does that say about you then?' Har har, you're a real comedian.

Go fuck yourself.

"Em hurt your feelings?" He tried. Neo nodded pitifully and put on her best puppy dog face. I'm not going to lie, it was decent. Seven out of ten. Mine's better for the record.

She pointed to me again and then up to her ear.

"Oh!" He said excitedly, "you want her to apologize!"

Yeah, fuck that.

The imp nodded enthusiastically and went back to moping. Jaune raised an eyebrow and motioned held out a hand towards me.

"Well, Em?"

"Fuck that." I responded politically.

The girl sprung into mock tears and grasped onto Jaune's arm, hugging it tightly as she buried her face in his sleeve. Somehow, someway, Jaune had the balls to shoot me a disgusted look.

"Em! Be nice!"

"Be nice!? Jaune, I'm going to have to circle back to the whole 'she beat the shit out of you thing-'"

He scoffed. "You're exaggerating."

"Yeah? Is there or is there not a Jaune shaped imprint on the bar back at the Club?"

He frowned at that. Ha! I had him now! He looked down at the little monster with accusing eyes. She stuck out her bottom lip in what I'd call a way too obvious move and mouthed, 'sorry,' before burying her face in his arm again.

"I think she's sorry."

Goddammit Jaune.

"She's really not."

He just rolled his eyes and looked at me like _I_ was being the unreasonable one. "Em, can we not? Just for today? You know, the day where we're about to commit a crime?"

I opened my mouth to say something smart, but he beat me to it.

"Look, it's my fault we're in this mess, and I just want to make sure that we're as safe as possible. Is saying sorry really too much to ask? For me?" Jaune then proceeded to give me _his_ puppy dog eyes, which I have to say, are pretty damn good. Nine out of ten for sure.

I broke like the weak ass bitch I am.

I groaned just to make a show of it and stared down into all too proud dichromatic eyes. "Neo, I'm…" The words caught in my throat. Maidens, but this was hard. Do people do this on a regular basis? I swallowed and pushed forward. "I'm...sorry."

The tip of Neo's tongue peeking out from between her lips immediately made me regret it. Jaune however, ate that shit up, smile beaming as he patted the little harpy on her head.

"See, Em? Was that so hard?"

Yes.

"Nah, not at all." I managed to hiss out without going for my pistol. "Hey, do you think that little miss Vale's Most Wanted could help us out now? You know, now that we've addressed her deep seated emotional wounds of being called mean names?"

He shot me an entirely unjustified warning look before glancing down at the mini monster.

"Neo, could you please help us?"

To her credit, the psycho just nodded happily and disappeared. No, you didn't mishear me. She didn't move really fast, she didn't throw down a smoke bomb like the hero in one of Jaune's comic books, she didn't even have the courtesy to zap out in a flash of light.

She just fucking disappeared.

I shared my concerns about the fabric of reality with Jaune.

"What the fuck was that!?"

"I don't know!" He shouted back. "You're the Semblance person, why don't you know!?"

"You ever see me disa-fucking-ppear!? Then why would I know!?"

"Then why'd you ask me!?" He shot back, which left me without a retort.

Jaune can be surprisingly quick on the draw with his arguments from time to time. Or maybe it says something more about me that he's able to catch me on the back foot. Either way, we weren't waiting for long, because just as suddenly as she disappeared, Neo popped back into existence. Only this time, she had a passenger.

She was holding a very unconscious SDC guard lazily by the collar, the poor man half dragging on the ground due to the height difference. That is, until she dropped him completely and shot her hands out to the side and grinned, clearly expecting to be praised for her contribution. I winced a little bit at the _thud _the guy's helmet made when it bounced off the ground. Jaune recovered a little faster than I did.

"Uh...great job, Neo." He said slowly, looking at the little demon warily, like you would a dog that has a habit of biting. Or, you know, like a sane person should look at her. Fucking finally.

Neo just smiled wider and took an over dramatic bow, making sure to make eye contact with me at the bottom and wink.

What a bitch.

"Cool, now we have our, uh...volunteer for me to impersonate." I said, walking over and flipping the man in question over, eyes pouring over him to memorize as many details as possible to fool his buddies. This is both easier and harder than it sounds. On one hand, there's so many things to take into account - height, weight, hair and eye color, scars, clothing, jewelry, and all the other things that make you you. I have to take those into account and copy them closely enough that I can sell it to people that know you. What's worse, I often have to do it on the fly, which is a bitch. On the other hand, people are really, really unobservant. Like, shockingly so. You ever wonder why police like using cameras more than taking eyewitness accounts? It's because people will fuck up every possible detail that you give them a chance to - how long something lasted, what a guy looked like, what kind of car that he was driving. However, that didn't help me out on one key detail that I figured I'd probably need.

I had no idea what this guy sounded like.

I looked up at Neo, staring back down at me like she was waiting for me to do the thing, and realized that I wouldn't be getting much help in that department from her. I let out a long sigh, it looked like we'd need a pretty big distraction if I was going to pull off my part of the deal. I swallowed my pride and tried to keep my voice as even as possible.

"Hey, Neo, you think that you might be able to help us…" I trailed off as the girl made her way back over to the shipping container that she'd been laying on top of, vaulted up on it and laid herself out again. "Or not, that's cool too." I grumbled, shooting Jaune a look somewhere between 'I told you so' and 'I hate this bitch.' His frown said that he picked up on it. He's pretty good at that, what with the seven sisters and all.

Jaune sighed and looked back up at the monster. "Um, Neo? You, uh, coming back down?"

The bitch propped herself up on one elbow and gave an exaggerated yawn, making a show of blinking at him tiredly.

"Oh, you're tired, huh?" He asked slowly.

Sure she was.

The girl nodded once and smiled happily, clearly pleased that Jaune was playing into her bullshit.

"Do you think that you might be able to put off a nap till we're done here?" He pressed.

She hummed silently as she tapped her finger against her lips, seeming to consider the proposition. She took long enough that I actually started to think that maybe Jaune's crazy chick whisperer abilities were going to pull through for us again, before she shook her head once and flopped back down. Super.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, the psycho turned out to be unreliable. Who could have possibly seen this- fuck!" I yelped as a metal washer beaned me in the head. I followed its path up to a pissy looking Neo, who glared at me and pointed down at the unconscious guard at my feet.

"Yeah, yeah, you got one guy. Great work. Guess we'll just handle the other two dozen on our own." I mocked.

Neo flipped me the bird and laid back down. Jaune shot me an exasperated look, but I was several steps past done with the little monster at this point. This did however leave us in an awkward position. I could probably bullshit my way past one guard at a time, but there was no way I was going to be able to fool the teams of them patrolling the fence line. I looked back to Jaune.

"Well, any bright ideas, smooth talker?"

He scoffed. "I did the last thing!" He grunted as a washer bounced off his head. "Ok, Neo did the last thing. It's your turn to think of something."

I groaned. "Jaune, I'm not the plan girl. I'm the fly by the seat of your pants girl. You're the plan girl."

He rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome."

He sighed. "Em, I don't have anything. The last plan I put together got us into a brawl with Torchwick and launched off a cliff."

"And the last one I tried got both our head planted into a bar and here." I said, spreading my arms wide. "Your move, plan girl."

Jaune then proceeded to mutter some very un-friend-like phrases at my expense, but seeing as I definitely needed his help, I decided to let them go. I'm nice like that.

He started pacing back and forth, one of his favorite thinking past times, and muttering and scowling, one of his other favorite thinking past times. I decided to let him do his thing, and put myself to use thinking about other important matters. Like, if I could use my Semblance to chuck one of those washers back at Neo and get away with it. I debated the merits of it back and forth for a while, alternating between chickening out and calling myself a bitch for chickening out. I was about halfway through reaching for the one that had pegged me in the head when Jaune snapped his fingers perked up.

"I got it!"

Eh, probably for the best.

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "It's a little weird, but I think it just might work." Well, that was a little concerning, but then again - weird was getting strangely normal.

"Well, don't keep a girl in suspense, what you got?" I pressed, more than a little excited. Jaune's plans were usually a little off, but they somehow managed to come together in the end.

"Ok, but I've got a question for you first."

"Shoot."

I'll never know how he said this next part with a straight face.

"Do you think I can pass for a faunus?"

We were so fucked.

* * *

Jaune's plan was simple, and I mean that both in that it was easy to understand and that in that it was clearly dumb.

Like, powerfully dumb.

Like, Neo had sat up and stared at the boy with an open mouth levels of dumb.

He was going to hang out on the perimeter of the compound, just out of view of the majority of the guards, then have me use my Semblance to convince one of the few guards that would be able to see him that he was wearing a White Fang mask. Then he'd take off running with most of the guards following him. I, dressed up in the unconscious guard's clothes, would go in the front gate and make my way to the Dust trucks.

There were just so many things that could go wrong. I mean, the guards might not even chase him. They might get close enough to ID him, in which case Jaune would become a wanted criminal, and this whole thing would be for nothing. Worse still, they might catch him, and while he technically hadn't done anything wrong, I hear the SDC wasn't too hot on the whole 'innocent until proven guilty' thing.

It was dumb. It was reckless. It was dangerous.

It was also the only plan that we had, so here I am, hiding behind a shipping container and waiting to help Jaune commit suicide. Sure enough though, a security guard eventually rounded the section of fence that would give him a clear line of sight on Jaune, and I focused in on him, feeling the familiar tingling sensation that came along with activating my Semblance. I watched as the man's eyes widened with shock when he locked in on Jaune, just barely peeking out from behind one of the walls of metal shipping containers surrounding the facility.

"Hey you!"

Jaune didn't wait around, ducking back behind the containers and taking off. I honestly hoped for a second that the guy would just give up or shrug it off, and we could just come up with a new plan. Or just leave altogether.

"Jimmy! Taylor! We got Fang!" The guard shouted, sprinting in the direction that Jaune had gone, half a dozen others at his heels.

Well, so much for that.

I waited till the chaos was in full effect and there was only a single guard standing by the gate before starting to jog towards it. The uniform would help me blend in at a distance, but I'd only be able to fool one person face to face at a time. Luckily, the guy that was standing guard at the gate didn't look too sharp. In fact, as I drew closer, I began to think the reason he'd stayed behind had less to do with protecting the facility, and more to do with how the buttons of his uniform were straining against his massive belly. I mentally reminded myself of the guard I was supposed to be impersonating and waved the guy down, noting the name on his badge.

"Tom! I need in!" I said in my best deep voice. Which apparently wasn't very good, because he cocked his head to the side a stared.

"Bill, you ok?"

"Laryngitis." I led. "That guy is getting away!"

The portly man shook his head dumbly and pointed. "Went that way…"

I grunted a big manly grunt to show how frustrated I was. "I know, but if I can grab a vehicle, I might be able to cut him off on the street." The big man's eyes lit up with understanding.

"Yeah, that makes sense…" He said, nodding.

"Yeah, so you mind letting me through?"

"Shit, sorry!" He apologized, stepping aside and letting me scan the key card that I'd stolen off his sleepy friend on the electronic lock. Which, to my great relief, beeped and flashed green before unlocking with a click. I pushed through a starting running through the gate, only turning around long enough to ask.

"Tom, where are the trucks?"

The man pointed absentmindedly, and I tore off again before he had the chance to think too hard about why I didn't know that already. Adrenaline is a great thing by itself, but what I like most about it is that it gives you a little bit of wiggle room while people are trying to process what's going on around them. Once I rounded the corner that Tom pointed me down, things were surprisingly easy. Signs with pictures of shipping trucks and arrows started popping up, which didn't take a genius to figure out. Plus, no one really bothered to stop me as I moved swiftly and purposefully towards the loading docks thanks to the stolen uniform. The alarms that kicked off a few minutes later certainly didn't hurt either.

For all the hoaky advice that Papa Arc gives, I will say that 'all you need is confidence' is at least somewhat accurate. You walk into a place and you act like you're supposed to be there, and surprisingly few people will have the balls to stop you. Human psychology is a weird thing.

Soon enough I hit the loading docks themselves and the small fleet of eighteen wheelers backed up to the loading facility. Now I just had to figure out which ones were loaded with security bots and which ones were just plain loaded. I bit my lip and tried to figure out where to start, when a voice broke me from my thoughts.

"Bill?"

My eyes snapped over to a brown haired, bearded man in oil soaked coveralls, a wrench hanging loosely from his right hand. Well, I suppose that I could just ask.

"Hey man, I got to move the trucks that aren't loaded with droids yet!" I shouted excitedly.

He scowled in confusion. "What? Why?"

Shit, I might have gone too far on that one. Think brain, think!

"We, uh, don't want them all in one place in case the Fang raid this place. They can't take it all at once." I tried. It seemed like a bullshit answer, but one that was complex enough that you'd have to stop and think about _why_ it might be bullshit. He nodded slowly and grunted.

"Got it."

"Which one do you want me to take." I asked. I always find that it helps to give your mark a decision to make during your con. It gives them something else to think about besides the fact that they're being conned. What's more, it makes them feel important, and if there's one thing people love, it's feeling important.

"Number seven, very end of the line." He answered quickly, pointing down the line of trucks. "Careful, her tires are running a little low."

"Appreciate it!" I clapped him on the shoulder and nodded in thanks, which made him swell up with pride, before taking off down the line.

And that ladies and gentlemen, is how you close a con. You make them feel good about the fact that they've been conned. The guy riding a temporary confidence high is going to be a lot slower to pick up on what's happened than the one you leave asking questions.

I pulled up next to truck number seven and flung open its driver's side door, jumping into the seat. I began frantically searching the cab for the keys, not too interested in seeing how long it'd take for someone to start asking why I was fumbling around in one of the trucks. Frustingly enough, I found them in the last place I looked, which was also the most obvious. Tucked under the sun visor. I sighed as I jammed them into the ignition and turned, listening to the engine rumble to life.

Here was the hard part, I had to drive the truck through the gate, a suspicious action in and of itself, while doing so slowly enough not to draw even more suspicion by seeming like I was racing somewhere. I pulled out of the docks as smoothly as I could, briefly waving to the mechanic that had pointed me to the truck to keep up the ruse as long as possible, before turning onto the main road of the facility and angling towards the gate. I pulled the cap of the uniform as low as I could to obscure my face and pressed on, receiving more than a few confused looks from the other guards running around the base. Nobody tried to stop me though, seemingly either too busy with their own task or willing to shrug me off once they saw the uniform. For my part, I just thanked whatever gods there may be and pushed just a little harder on the gas as the gate came into view, Tim still standing dutifully by. I shot him a thumbs up as the gates opened up, apparently sensing the truck somehow, and I began to pull through. He held up a plump thumb in return and shouted,

"Go get him, Bill!"

I had to fight pretty hard not to burst out laughing at that one as I barreled by, petal now steadily descending towards the metal as I cleared the gates of the SDC compound. I shot down the road leading through the rows of shipping containers, frantically looking for some sign of Jaune as I drove towards the main road, our meeting spot if he made it that far.

'But Em, what about Neo?' You ask.

What about her?

I'd almost reached the main road with no sign of Jaune, my heart beating faster and faster as the panicked thoughts of something having happened to him started to build, when a very feminine scream pierced the air in the cab from the passenger's seat as Jaune popped into existence next to me.

I nearly had a fucking heart attack.

The sense of relief and warmth that washed over me at seeing him safe was only slightly dampened by seeing the little multi-colored demon sitting in his lap, looking up at the screaming blond with annoyance.

"Jaune, you're ok!" I shouted, trying to calm the boy down. He stopped yelling, but his breathing still came fast and swallow as his eyes darted around the cab.

"Did we-" he swallowed, "did we make it?" He asked as we reached the edge of the highway and I started to pull on, gradually accelerating as we joined the flow of traffic.

I slapped his arm in excitement. "You bet your ass we did! All thanks to your plan! We'll make a real criminal out of you yet!"

Jaune seemed significantly less pumped about it than I did, slowly sinking down into his seat and burying his face in his hands as he groaned, Neo gently patting his head. I knew that I should probably feel the same way, relieved that we'd made it, afraid that we'd still get caught, promising myself that I'd never do anything like that again, but as we gradually started to disappear into the flow of traffic and put more and more distance between us and the SDC, all I could think about was…

How much goddamn fun I was having.

* * *

**Memory Lane**

After our little run in with Johnny Law, and Mamma Arc more importantly, we decided that we probably needed to lay low for awhile.

To fill our time until the next scam, Jaune decided that I should meet some of the mark- friends, Jaune decided that I should make some friends.

It went about as well as you'd expect.

"Em, this is my friend, Cyan." Jaune announced proudly, gesturing to the scraggly looking brown haired boy he'd dragged over to me. Jaune had proven that he wasn't a snitch, so I figured I should be supportive and give this kid a chance, really try to relate to him.

"You any good at cards? Dice?"

Nailed it.

"Uhhh," Cyan articulated. I decided that we probably wouldn't have Cyan doing any of the talking for us. Jaune coughed and jabbed me with an elbow, which I thought was pretty rude. Also ill advised, I had stolen one of the Arc's steak knives earlier that morning...just in case. Still, I decided to try again for his sake.

"I'm Em, it's, uh, nice to meet you and stuff, I guess." I said, then held out a hand after Jaune poked me again. He should really stop doing that, mine was sharper.

"Hi, I'm Cyan." The kid replied, shaking my hand and squeezing too tight in that way that little boys do when they're trying to figure out how to be normal people. Some never figure it out, like Jaune. A lot of people looking to get stabbed today. "I'm not great at any dice games, but I like Go Fish." He chirped happily.

"What's Go Fish?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Everybody knows about Go Fish."

"Yeah? I don't"

"It's a card game." He explained.

"How do you play?"

"You guess what cards the other person has."

"Oh, you mean like Poker?"

"Like what?" He asked, perplexed.

"Like Blackjack?"

"What's a Blackjack? Is it like jacks?"

I sighed. "Whatever, when do you bet?"

He stared at me dumbly. "Bet what?"

"Money. When do we bet while we're playing to game?" I said slowly, trying to stop my hand from trailing down towards the knife.

He shook his head and looked at me like I was the dumb one. "There's no money."

I let out a groan of frustration. "Then why are we playing?!"

"Because it's fun!" He snapped.

"It's not fun, it's dumb!" I shot back.

"You're dumb!" He shouted, which was not a particularly bright comeback, but not nearly as dumb as what came next.

I shrugged and turned to Jaune. "You have any friends that aren't idiots?"

That's when Cyan decided to shove me, and we all learned a few things about each other. Cyan learned that I wasn't about that life when the knife popped out. I learned that Jaune was a lot quicker than I thought he was with the way he snatched up my wrist and started wrestling me for said knife. Jaune presumably learned that he should start watching me a little more closely in the mornings.

Good times all around.

And to be fair to Cyan, I learned that he was pretty cool, because he ended up forgiving me...eventually.

* * *

**Meeting the Unit**

**The two grey men that had come and seized Crooc and myself guided us through the bleak and broken landscape of the warzone, the reverberations of the explosions rattling our teeth and shaking us to our core. I'm not ashamed to say that I continued to shake, even in the moments where there were no explosions to rock us. They led us down rickety wooden steps and into the trenches, where the last hints of sunlight seemed to become a distant memory. The mud and muck of the trench floor grabbed at our boots, threatening to tear them from our feet. We twisted and turned in the seemingly endless corridors until I had lost all sense of where we were and from whence we'd come. **

**Eventually, our terrible march came to an end and the men in grey shoved us forward into a small open space cut into the trench. We stood before a group of ragged and battered men, their eyes downcast and their shoulders bearing the weight of pain beyond their years. There was not a shred of hope left among them, but some did spark in my heart when my eyes fell on a few familiar faces.**

"**Demy! Burk! You're alive! Thank the gods!" I cried, running forth and embracing the tired men along with Crooc.**

"**You made it!" Demy said, new life in his voice. "We'd thought you both lost!"**

"**And us you." I replied, clasping him on the shoulder and looking around. "What is this place?"**

**He and Burk just shrugged. "We're in a unit called Topaz company, but besides that we're not really sure. Everyone here seems miserable though. Everyday is a battle that seems pointless! There are no winners or losers, just…" He looked to Burk, who shook his head and supplied- "madness."**

"**Is there no one here that is sane?" I asked, exasperated.**

**Burk pointed to a man sat against the wall, cleaning his rifle. "Sgt Light over there has been here the longest. He's a good man, but a tired one." Light raised his hand in greeting and started to rise to his feet before an explosion, closer than any before, knocked us all from our feet. I stumbled back up with the help of Crooc, only to be met with the most terrible sight yet, A tall dark man with a crazed look in his eyes and a wide, fierce grin on his face. **

"**Welcome to the war, maggots! My name is Atic, but you'll be calling me Captain Fan!" He gestured to one of the broken men lining the wall. "Get them weapons!"**

**I shook my head. "We don't war, good sir, we're ship builders."**

**He laughed. "You do now, maggot! The enemy is preparing to charge!"**

"**But who's the enemy?" I questioned.**

**He scoffed. "Everyone that doesn't agree with us, of course." And then there was no more time for questions, for rifles were being pressed into our hands and we were being pressed towards the wall.**


	6. Never Meet Your Heroes

**CHAPTER FIVE**

_**Never Meet Your Heroes**_

**Cr00cy, I don't even know what's happening anymore.**

**Cr00cy: So the same as usual?**

**Fighting in Feb prior to the tournament in April, so we'll see how that shit goes.**

* * *

_Jaune has this really bad habit._

_It's that he always oversells everyone he meets, making them into more than they actually are. Take me for instance:_

_I can't tell you how many times Jaune has gone out and 'sold' me to a group of his friends, admittedly not the largest group in the world, and told them that I'm the greatest thing since Mistralian porn._

_That I'm smart, that I'm beautiful, that I'm nice._

_All things that are varying levels of lies. The point is, by the time that someone actually meets me, they can't help but feel disappointed that I don't measure up to the legend that Jaune has constructed about me._

_All because Jaune can't help but see me as something more than I am, someone who's special._

_You ready for the part where you don't judge me? _

_I love him for it._

* * *

The days that followed our heist were significantly less exciting. Somehow, swindling chumps out of their money at a casino table loses its appeal after you've taken part in one of the largest Dust robberies in Vale's history. So I sat at Junior's bar, lazily playing with a poker chip, rolling it around on top of my fingers.

For context on just how much more boring it is, I just used the word 'swindling' in a sentence.

Maidens, but this place was killing me.

The only thing that made the situation slightly better was that Jaune was coming over later. He was also bringing over his team to introduce them, which left me somewhat torn between the fact that I'd be splitting my Jaune-time and excited to see their shocked faces when they saw where I worked.

"You did good today." Junior said, stirring me from my thoughts from his place behind the bar, cleaning glasses that didn't really need to be cleaned. "You worked those people real smooth."

"Aww, thanks big cat. I knew I was growing on you."

He sighed. "And just like that, I regret giving you the compliment."

Big Cat was still fighting his growing love of me.

"Someone's feeling especially grumpy today." I observed.

"That's because a certain someone has been hanging around my bar all day, taking up space that could be used by paying customers."

I quirked an eyebrow at that. "One, what paying customers?" I said, motioning toward that empty bar. "Two, who complains about about having a sexy lady at their bar?"

"Apparently not that sexy, or the bar wouldn't be empty." He observed dryly as he set the glass down and grabbed another, equally clean, glass to wipe down.

Ouch.

"And where else would I go? I'm on house arrest, remember?"

"Your room, for one."

"Wow, are you trying to send me to my room? What are you, my dad?"

"A man in search of sanity."

"Good luck with that."

He sighed again as he set the glass down. A big sigher, Big Cat. "Seriously, why are you down here?"

I sighed, far more loudly than I needed to, just to bother him. "I'm waiting on Jaune and his team."

"Goddammit, Emerald." He groaned. "Did you invite a bunch of Hunters to my bar?"

"Hunters in training." I corrected. "Besides, you love Jaune." Everyone loved Jaune.

"Jaune's a good kid." Junior allowed. "But I'm not running a daycare here, we don't need a bunch of goodie two shoes Hunters in this place."

"Relaaaxx." I drawled. "I'll keep them up here, scout's honor."

"Yeah, that means a lot coming from you." He shot back. "Just keep them under control."

"I promise." I sighed, resting my chin on the bar.

Junior quirked an eyebrow at me. "You seem oddly down for having your boyfriend visit."

"He's not my-" I cursed myself for rising to the bait. "Jaune keeps going on and on about these guys, and now I have to play nice while they're here. Especially his partner. Seems to think she's the bee's knees."

"Sure he's not." Junior hummed as he leaned against the bar, before his shoulders tensed. "Wait, she's not that damn blonde, is she?"

"Nah, some red-head chick." The tension left his body immediately. "Pyrrha, I think."

He stiffened again. "Wait, like Pyrrha Nikos?"

"Yeah, I think." I answered absently.

"Holy shit, do you know who that is?"

"No, should I?"

"Emerald, she's the-"

"Em, we're here!" Jaune's voice called from the door.

I would tell you that I didn't hop up in my seat like someone had just announced that they were giving away free booze, but I promised not to lie to you. I get excited about seeing my best friend, ok? Don't read into it. Anyway, I spun around on my stool with a grin on my face, carefully ignoring the amused look on Big Cat's face, to greet Jaune.

The first person I locked onto, besides Jaune, was the tall red-head standing next to him. And I do mean tall. The girl looked like she should be playing volleyball somewhere. She was long and lean too, just like her hair. Stacked as well, her tight leather corset holding up her assets subtly but clearly, the brown and gold contrasting with her damn near flawless white skin and toned muscles that...

She was alright, I guess.

Fuck you, don't read into it.

My gaze flowed over to the pair standing next to her, who to my relief, seemed to be normal humans. A dark haired lady boy and a stacked ginger.

Jaune rushed over, a big smile on his face and dragging the amazon along behind him like an owner behind her overly excited dog.

"Em, this is Pyrrha! Pyr, this is Em, my friend that I was telling you about!"

Red waved shyly from her place beside Jaune.

"Hello!"

"Sup? So, this is the miracle chick that you've told me so much about? I thought she'd be taller." Hey, I know I'm coming on strong, but I'm allowed to be protective. Gods knows Jaune's vetting process is piss poor. He's friends with me, after all.

Jaune, strangely enough, didn't appreciate my complimentary vetting services. Some people.

"Em…" He warned, giving me that 'play nice, this is important to me' look. To which, despite my better instincts, I folded like the lawn chair that I am. I sighed and held out a hand.

"Emerald, friends call me Em." I left out that I wasn't sure if that included her yet. See? I can be nice. She took my hand in what I can assure you was one of the firmest goddamn handshakes I've ever had the pleasure of almost breaking my hand and smiled that weird, plastic smile that people do.

"Pyrrha, friends call me Pyr. Or at least, I think they do. Jaune does." She said, jerking her head towards the grinning boy, clearly happy we were getting along. "You're like, Jaune's sister then?"

I love it when people ask that question.

"Sure are. Can't you see the family resemblance?" I asked with a straight face.

"Well, I-"

I didn't wait for her to recover. "It's an old story, really. You know how it goes, a young Hunter goes on the road, gets lonely, meets one of the local ladies who's just ever so grateful to be rescued." I paused for effect, letting the horror of what I was suggesting sink in. "And what do you know? Nine months later, Mama Arc has a new, browner, baby to feed. Tale as old as time really."

I was very pleased that her face had turned about as red as her weird ass sash.

"I, um-" She swallowed. "I suppose-"

"She's kidding." Jaune assured her while sparing me a glare. "My dad caught her trying to steal from him on the streets of Mistral and brought her home."

Spoil sport.

"Lucky!" Ginger Mc'Top Heavy kicked in, pushing past Jaune and Pyrrha with all the grace of a runaway freight train.

"Yeah? Being an orphan seem cool to you?" I shot back. This dumb bimbo probably hadn't known anything but-

"Can't be an orphan if you gotta family." She fired back, not missing a beat. "Me and Renny got put into the system." The dark-haired ladyboy nodded in confirmation.

Oh, well then.

"Oh, I uh...how was that?" I articulated, wordsmith that I am.

The ginger just shrugged. "Eh, it wasn't so bad."

That was underselling it for sure. I was from Mistral, and there was a reason that I'd never let myself get taken into the 'adoption' system there. At least, for as long as I could take it before running away again. They had a reputation, one that was well earned. She apparently caught on to my facial expression, because she shook her head and spoke up again.

"It wasn't like that, Sister Maria looked after us really well. Even got us hooked up with the Hunter that ended up training us." She grinned. "She ended up hooking up with the Hunter too, if you know what I-"

"That's enough, Nora." The dark-haired boy chastised gently.

I'll tell you what, I didn't know this girl in the least, but when I heard that? The knot that I didn't know was building in my stomach started to let loose. Call me a softy all you want, but hearing that another street rat is doing ok always does my heart good.

I let out a sigh of relief. "I'd always heard the stories…"

She gave me a soft smile as the ladyboy, Renny I guess, pulled up next to her and squeezed her hand. "Yeah, so did we."

Side note for you: Fuck Mistral.

'Renny' held out a hand and smiled, "Ren, it's a pleasure."

"Samesies." I said, grabbing the hand and gave it a firm shake, promising myself that I'd try to start using Ren over 'ladyboy.'

Jaune was grinning like an idiot in the background, either pleased that I had been out street ratted by someone or, more likely, happy that I approved of his team. Jaune's sentimental about stuff like that, he thinks that it matters for some reason.

But you know what? Somehow, after we'd spent the next couple of hours chatting and trading embarrassing stories about Jaune back and forth, of which they had a surprising amount for such a short period of time...

I think I felt a little better about the whole thing too.

Except for that Pyrrha hooker.

* * *

Jaune's team may not have been as bad as I thought they were going to be, but I was still glad when they left. I hadn't really gotten to sit down and talk with him since the Dust heist, and while I was at least capable of having a conversation with Big Cat and the twin floozies at this point, it just wasn't the same. I was having Jaune withdrawals, as weird as that sounds. I just needed some time to catch up, just me and him.

And this big ass bottle of tequila that I was using to make margaritas. Shh, don't tell Big Cat.

"I'm proud of you." Jaune said, not at all condescending.

"Uh-huh?" I hummed as I licked some of the salt off of the rim of my glass.

"Yeah, you were nice...nicer than I've ever seen you before." He did that goofy smile that both immediately made me feel all warm on the inside...and guilty that I hadn't been even nicer, if you can believe that. "I really appreciate it, Em."

"No biggie." I assured him, sliding him his own margarita, which he eyed warily. Jaune is aware that I'm a heavy pourer. He also might be suspicious that I lied when I told him that Junior had given us his blessing to raid the bar. I'd be offended if it wasn't so accurate. "Ren and Nora seem cool," I offered.

He quirked an eyebrow. "But not Pyrrha?"

"She's…" You ever get in that place where you know that literally any answer that you give is going to lead to a fight? Everyone seems like they've got a different tactic for dealing with it. Mine is to change the subject as smoothly as possible. "Hey, you got your eye on anybody at Beacon yet?"

Fucking nailed it.

Jaune snorted, clearly onto my bullshit. "Em, you're going to have to-"

"I'm just saying, if those two are anything to go by, then Beacon is like a school for supermodels." When in doubt, just plow on through, don't let them get back in the conversation.

"Pyrrha is my-"

"Hell, I wouldn't even blame you if Ren is making you question your sexuality. Did you see that guy when he walked away? Goddamn."

He chuckled. "Careful about saying that around Nora, she's got that guy on lockdown." He smirked. "Even if he doesn't know it yet."

See? Just like that, we don't have to talk about Big Red anymore. Works every time...most of the time.

"Noted, but you're avoiding the question." I teased.

"Gee, wonder who I learned that from." He shot back, wincing as he took a sip from his glass. "Damn, Em, how much did you-"

"Jaune." I insisted.

He sighed and leaned against the bar, burying his head in his arms. I fucking knew it. Jaune has always been something of a lovebug. It's honestly adorable, mostly because he always aims way, way too high.

"What's she like?" I asked, silent begging that it wasn't Pyrrha.

"I don't want to talk about it." He grumbled.

"Great ass? Perky tits?" I pressed. "Maybe a nice pair of DS-"

"No! Yes!" He half-shouted, an adorable blush starting to creep across his cheeks. He coughed and looked away. "She's just...elegant."

Damn, my boy had it bad.

"Does elegant have a name?" I asked, taking another sip of my drink. Yeesh, I had gone too hard on the tequila. He sighed and rested his head on the bar again, humorously close to the imprint of his head Neo had added to it.

"I think she hates me."

Well, at least we already had the booze to go along with the heartbreak.

"I need a name and description if I'm going to help you, Jaune."

He sighed and looked away. "It's Weiss."

"Uh-huh, and what do we know about the future Mrs. Arc?"

He looked back at me with that dopey, dreamy look in his eyes and said. "She's perfect."

Oh boy.

"She's graceful. She's smart. She's fiery." He listed, his head slowly coming up off the dark wood as his tone brightened.

"And what makes you think she's not interested?" She probably wasn't, but you don't say these things as a best friend.

He winced again. "I think that she thinks that I'm only after her for her money or something. I don't know, seems real cagey."

Huh, not exactly the answer I was expecting.

"Yeah? She some sort of local big shot?" I asked, taking another sip.

He shook his head. "Nah, she's a Schnee."

Listen, I'm going to remind you of your promise not to judge me when I say that I did a spit take. And I do mean that literally, Junior would kill me if he ever found out what I did to his booze. Maybe it would help if I gave you some context.

I love Weiss Schnee.

Ew, not like that you perverts. Though she does have a nice ass…

Anyway, I've listened to her music for years. Mirror Mirror is my jam, which is a secret that I will take to my grave. Point being, I may or may not have an account on a Weiss Schnee fan forum, and here was my best friend, not only telling me that she went to Beacon, but he knew her.

"Weiss Schnee, like the singer?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah." Jaune answered, resting his chin on his palm with a dreamy smile. I made a decision in that moment, which I'm not afraid to say wasn't entirely altruistic.

"I'll help you."

"What?" He shot me a confused look, which was fair, I usually didn't get too involved with Jaune's crash and burns.

"For real. Bring her here, and I'll sell you." I assured him.

He perked up at that. "Really?"

I tried to keep my voice level as I answered. "Yep. I'll let her know what a great guy you are, that you'd never go after a chick just because of her name." I meant it too. Jaune was a sweetheart. If anyone deserved to get with their dream girl, it was him.

Also, I was getting that damn autograph.

"You think that'll work?" He asked, hope seeping into his voice.

"Only one way to find out."

Jaune grinned like he'd just won the damn lottery, which made the whole thing worth it.

"You're the best, Em!"

It's nice to be appreciated.

"Anytime."

He hopped up off his stool and downed his drink in one go, which I really wouldn't have suggested, and laughed.

"I'm going to go get them right now!"

"Go get her, tiger." I encouraged, raising my glass. And just like that, he had bolted through the doors of the Club. I sipped on my drink and considered many things. What my sales pitch was going to be, what could I get in the next few days that would be the most valuable for Weiss to sign, and most importantly…

How pissed the bullhead pilot was going to be when a Jaune with a belly full of liquor hopped on his ship?

* * *

Weiss' grand entrance into the magical world/prison that is the Club was certainly exciting…

But not the good kind of exciting, like you want.

"What the fuck is she doing here!?" Junior bellowed and pointed as soon as Weiss and the other, less important, people that weren't Weiss pushed open the doors of the bar. I was getting ready to give him an earful for speaking to our guests, our very rich and talented guest, that way, until I noticed that he wasn't pointing at Weiss. He was pointing at the blonde not-Weiss. Who, I have to admit, cut a striking figure with her long blonde hair, lilac eyes, and tight shorts and jacket combo. Also, lady was stacked. I'm just saying, girl had it going on.

Judging by his reaction, and how Tweedletits and Tweedlebum were having an anxiety attack on the far end of the bar, eyes desperately trying to identify all possible escape routes, I'm guessing that they had some history that didn't involve hair care tips and fashion advice.

Jaune, bless his soul, was not as quick on the uptake.

"Something wrong, Mr. Xiong?" He asked, slowly moving forward to stand between the two parties.

Big Cat was livid. "Get that bar wrecking bitc-"

"Watch it." Blondie warned in a hard tone, promising that he'd regret it if he didn't. If the panicky looks coming from Jaune, who'd begun to slowly back away, and the little lolita redhead were anything to go by, he just might.

"Yannnggg." The smaller girl whined, snatching onto the blonde's arm. "We're here to meet Jaune's friends! Be nice!"

'Yang,' for her part, didn't seem too interested in being nice, as her arms started to flex in a way that I suspected probably triggered those giant ass 'bangles' she was wearing. I didn't have to suspect much of anything with Junior, I _knew_ he was reaching for the shotgun he keeps stashed behind the bar. In short, things were about to get real. Really real. I probably wouldn't be getting my autograph real, which is clearly unacceptable.

I'd bribed one of the guys into picking up a vinyl copy of her first album to get autographed if you're curious. Cause I'm classy like that.

As I desperately scanned the room for a way to defuse said time bomb, my eyes locked back in the tiny goth, which I suddenly realized that was _our _tiny goth. The same one that we'd 'saved' from Roman and Junior's goons back during the Dust robbery.

"Headphones girl!" I blurted out, pointing at the confused girl like I'd just solved some great mystery. She pointed to herself and raise a brow.

"Me?"

"Yeah, from the Dust store robbery!" I quickly recovered. "You were there the night Jaune and I came in and got into a brawl with Roman's goons." I carefully decided to omit the fact that Roman's goons were actually Junior's goons. The girl apparently didn't pick up on it either, because her eyes lit up like I'd just told her it was her birthday.

"Yeah!" She shouted, practically vibrating with excitement. "I thought you looked familiar, but I didn't really get a great look because-!" Realization dawned on her as she spun in place, rounding on Jaune. "You were there too! Why didn't you tell me!?"

Well, the good news is that everyone was now suitably confused and/or curious enough that fighting to the death looked like it was off the table for the time being. The bad news is that I'd just put Jaune in a place that he now had to think of lie on the spot, which is about as far from his strong suit as you can get. Afterall, we couldn't exactly tell them that we'd decided not to go to the cops because we really didn't want them digging into either Jaune or my reasons for being in Vale too hard, let alone contact Papa Arc. Or worse, Mama Arc.

I think I'd rather be an orphan again than deal with that fallout.

Jaune's mouth worked up and down silently for a minute like a fish as the goth girl grabbed a fistful of his hoodie to pull him down to her level.

"We're supposed to be besties!" She pressed, shaking him. "Besties don't have secrets!"

Jaune swallowed. "Ruby, I-"

"It's cause he's shy!" I cut in, starting a lie that I had no end for and drawing every set of eyes in the room to me. The quiet, raven-haired chick with the ass wasn't buying it. She tilted her head to the side and stared right through me.

"He didn't tell her that he was involved in the same fight that she was against armed criminals...because he was shy?" She said, tone somewhere between sarcasm and disbelief that she'd heard such a dumbass statement.

"Uh-huh." I assured her, feeling about a foot tall. "Yeah, you see...Jaune didn't want people to treat him differently just cause he'd, you know, stopped a robbery and all that. Was afraid they'd get all weird about it. He just wanted to be...normal."

Dark and stormy was about halfway through opening her mouth to shoot about a hundred holes in that theory when an audible 'gasp' cut through the room. Goth girl's, or Ruby, I guess, eyes were as wide as saucers as she looked at Jaune like he was some sort of long lost brother.

"Normal knees…" She whispered in awe.

What the fuck?

"Sure…" I said, eager to jump on anything that the girl would give me, "exactly like that."

The look that dark and stormy was giving me said that she was still far, far from sold, but she rolled her eyes and let it go when Ruby, saint of strange that she is, started jumping up and down and tugging on her arm.

"That's so cool! You're just like me! Did Ozpin talk to you guys too? Blake isn't it cool!? Tell them it's cool!"

The girl let out a long sigh that told me this probably wasn't the first, or hundreth, time this had happened and nodded along.

"The coolest."

I shared a brief, very relieved, look with Jaune before continuing to spin my web of bullshit.

"Yeah, we kind of avoided the whole Johnny Law interview process. I may or may not have had some issues with them growing up on the streets of Mistral. Had to do what I needed to get by." I explained, which earned me the usual array of pitying looks that I can't stand. Strangely enough though, it seemed to soften the not-so-subtle glare that 'Blake' had been shooting my way. Huh, well I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Time to double down. I made eye contact with Weiss before continuing. "Jaune took care of me though. Led the police off and let me duck out, which is how I ended up here."

You see that folks? I just combined an explanation that set everyone at ease with a sob story, with a side of making Jaune look good in front of his crush. That's how you do it. Hell, after hearing about how he both helped Ruby out in the fight and looked after me all 'strong but caring'-like, I bet her panties were damn near-

"I knew it! I knew he was a charlatan!" The heiress spat out.

Wait, what?

"Weiss…" Ruby, who was quickly rising in my 'people that I can stand in the room' rankings, said as she put a hand on Whitey's shoulder.

"No!" The Rich Bitch insisted, shrugging off Ruby and glaring at Jaune. "He's been hounding me since the start, trying to get close to me, trying to get me to go out alone with him."

Well, this certainly wasn't going as well as I'd hoped.

"And now we find out that he just so happens to be friends with a bunch of thieving riff-raff? No offense." She added, shooting me a quick apologetic look before turning back to Ruby. "Doesn't that seem a little bit _convenient _to you?"

"None taken, bitch." I muttered, too low for anyone to hear, but still getting a glance from Blake - though not an entirely disapproving one. I filed that little tidbit of info away for later.

The little red-head flinched back. "Weiss, I don't think that-"

"I know you don't Ruby, but do you think that this is the first time that someone's been after me for my money?" She sighed, like owning half of Remnant was some great burden to bear. "And it always starts off the same, 'prince charming'" She made a show of making air quotes here, "comes along and tries to sweep me off my feet, only to roll out the scam."

"What fucking scam!?" I blurted out. I figured that I probably wasn't getting that autograph now anyway. "How the fuck would we even know that you were going to Beacon?"

"Em, we don't have to-" Jaune started, apparently still unfamiliar with the fact that I don't do subtle when I'm pissed.

The Bitch scoffed, "any Atlesian newspaper would have told you that 'the great Weiss Schnee' was breaking tradition by refusing to attend their Huntsman academy. It was national news."

"Bitch, does this look like Atlas to you?" I snapped.

"Em-" Jaune tried again, only to be cut off by Whitey. Having a real hard time with the ladies today, was Jaune.

Flatness scowled, "of course not. And I'll thank you to-"

"Then why would we give a fuck about 'the great Weiss Schnee?'" I cut her off. "No offense."

She looked pretty damn offended, which isn't really that surprising I guess. What was kind of surprising was the snort that came from Thickness, earning her a betrayed glare from the heiress. She just shrugged.

"I mean, I'd heard of your family's crimes against the faunus if that makes you feel any better."

I was really starting to like her.

Short and pasty was fuming. "Those rumors are-"

"Rumors?" Blake quirked an eyebrow, "they were printed in the 'Atlesian Times.'"

Schnee started to sputter, face going a very unique, very hilarious, shade of red. A better person might have stepped back, letting them deal with each other…

"Having a hard time getting it from both ends?" I asked, "gee, I kinda thought you'd be used-"

Jaune had apparently had enough of trying to be subtle, because he snatched my arm and spun me around in a way that would get anyone without the surname Arc punched square in the face. Either way, I was about to give him an earful before I caught the look on his face. Angry for sure, but also mixed with that favorite of parents everywhere...at least, so I've been told.

Disappointment.

That uncomfortable feeling of shame started to bubble up as the haze of anger burned away. These were supposed to be Jaune's new friends, his teammates that he'd be spending the next four years with. The ones that'd be watching his back out there. A better person might have apologized, tried to walk the conversation back and found a place where we could untangle Whitey's crazy theories.

I'm not that person.

So, I did the best I could, tore my arm free and muttered 'whatever' as I pushed past Ruby's little team, making sure to bump the pretty little heiress as I did. She huffed in that way that people that expect to be treated a certain way do and I could hear Jaune apologizing behind me, but I wasn't sorry.

Fuck her.

Her music wasn't that good anyway.

Jaune started yelling something after me that I chose to pretend like I didn't hear. He'd be pissed, but I'd make it up to him. I always did.

I was thinking ice cream as I pulled out my newly acquired credit card and turned it over in my hands.

Courtesy of little miss Schnee of course.

* * *

**Memory Lane**

Eventually the whole 'almost stabbed Cyan' incident blew over, and I managed to worm my way into Jaune's friend group. And by friend group, I mean Cyan. As it turns out Jaune wasn't what you'd call super popular. I used to wonder if that's why Jaune accepted me so easily, because he was just lonely and needed a friend. That maybe Jaune was the weird one and I was the one getting the raw end of the deal, missing out on making more friends.

Upon further review, I've determined that no, it's people that suck and Jaune is pretty great. But hey, that brings us to our story, because two things about Jaune have always been true. He's a giant love bug, and people are too dumb to realize that they're missing out.

"I'm telling you, she likes you." Cyan said in a conspiratorial whisper, only somewhat ruined by the fact that he was leaning halfway across the cafeteria table to do so. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, was Cyan. That'd been the one I'd almost stabbed him with.

Nevertheless, Jaune's eyes lit up like they always did. "Really?"

"Nope." I said at the exact same time that Cyan got out his excited 'yep'. He shot me a glare that said that he might still be carrying a teensy bit of a grudge and looked back to Jaune.

"Don't listen to her, Jaune. She's interested!"

I sighed and pushed my tray away. Clearly we were doing this today.

"How?" I asked.

"How what?"

"How can you tell she's interested?" I asked, making Jaune look over expectantly at Cyan. The other boy groaned and motioned over to the girl in question.

"Because she's been looking at him all lunch. Duh." He finished, like I was the dumb one.

"Pretty sure that she's been staring at Jade." I shot back, lazily pointing my spork at the cute boy sitting at the table behind Jaune.

Cyan tsked. "Him? What's he got on Jaune?"

I'll admit, Cyan made a solid point, but just for the sake of argument…

"Good teeth, perfect hair, cute dimples-" I started, before watching Jaune's face start to fall. "But he doesn't have your eyes!" I quickly tried to recover. "Your eyes are way better!"

Nailed it.

"See?" Cyan preened, clearly taking away the wrong message. "Even Em thinks so. All you have to do is go over there and introduce yourself. Bam! Instant girlfriend!"

Cyan was single for a long time.

Still, Jaune rubbed his chin considering. "Well, dad does say all you need is confidence…"

"Exactly!" Cyan agreed. "Just go tell her how it's going to be!"

I was really proud of him when he grew out of this phase.

"You know what? You're right!" Jaune slapped his hands down on the table and pushed himself up. "I'm going over there!"

I fought to keep from slamming my head on the table and watched as Jaune strutted, or least attempted to strut, around the table and make his way towards the girl, Tange, with a confidence that would have made Papa Arc proud. Tange, for her part, stared at him with ever growing eyes as the gaggle of girls around her started to whisper and giggle. Jaune was undeterred, pulling up in front of her with a big 'ole smile. It went about like you think it would.

"Hi, Tange!" Jaune said excitedly.

"Um, hi." She replied weakly.

"I saw you looking over at our table, and I wanted to ask you something." Jaune rushed out, fidgeting in place.

To her credit, Tange tried to save Jaune from the disaster that we all saw coming. "Oh no, Jaune I was-"

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Jaune blurted out. The cafeteria went dead silent, with every set of eyes in the room locking in on Jaune and Tange, who looked desperately like she wanted to disappear. Instead, she did the only thing you can do in an incredibly awkward situation. Be awkward.

"Um...no, thank you?" She squeaked, slowly sinking down into her chair. All things considered, I like to think she did the best she could in a shitty situation. Now the bitch next to her…

"Ew, why would she want to go out with you?" A girl whose name I couldn't be bothered to remember asked, scrunching up her face like she'd just smelled something rancid. "Do you know who she is?"

Jaune had gone from confused to flustered to beat red. "Well, I…" he swallowed. "I thought-"

"I don't think you did." The girl shot back. "Tange is like, one of the most popular girls in school." She explained, gesturing to a Tange that was well on her way to hiding under the table to escape the situation. "And you…" she squinted her eyes for effect, "who are you again? Why would anyone want to-"

I'm sure that she had something else witty to say, but at some point I had apparently gotten up and started walking over towards them. I don't really deciding that that was something that I wanted to do, but I do remember deciding to do the next part. Jaune looked over at me with a mix of confusion and relief when he saw me approaching, but it wasn't him who I was really focused on. I made damn sure I had eye contact with what's-her-name, grabbed Jaune by the collar, and then slammed my lips into his in the most aggressive kiss that I could manage.

It was terrible, for the record. Turns out rage and inexperience don't make fairy tale romance material. It had the effect I wanted though. The cafeteria went from dead silent to an explosion of gasps, I could hear Cyan whooping somewhere in the background - asshole, but most importantly, little miss loud mouth was sitting with her jaw hanging loose. I smirked into the kiss. That shut her up.

Jaune would complain later, saying that I made it impossible for him to get a girlfriend for the rest of our time there, something about me 'claiming him.' I really wasn't too worried about it.

And yes, I did make that girl's food turn into spiders, thank you for asking.

* * *

**First Battle**

**The sound of the charging army was deafening, and flooded my ears well before I managed to muster up the courage to peak my head up above the edge of the trench. That's when I first caught sight of the 'enemy.'**

**They were legion, they were passionate, and most importantly, they were angry. Angry in a way that I could never truly remember seeing during all my time at sea. They whooped and hollered as they waved a motley collection of weapons above their heads, flags of green and silver fluttering in the breeze.**

"**Who are they?" I shouted to Burk, who opened his mouth to answer before Captain Atic's angry voice cut through the air.**

"**Fucking Jaded again! Ship Merc and Em will ya? Load up, boys! We'll show'em!" He yelled, a crazed look in his eyes.**

**That's when the gunfire started. A mixture of **_**cracks **_**and **_**whistles**_ **as they opened up on us, forcing our heads down. The rounds that streaked closest to me made impossible and nonsensical sounds as they passed.**

"_**Problematic-"**_

"_**Not canon-"**_

"_**Doesn't work-"**_

**To this day, I've never figured out what they were trying to say, but, to my great shame, I found myself firing back in my fear. **

**Then, as quickly as it started, it was over. The charging army had turned and started heading back to their own trench, seemingly not stronger or weaker than they were before. **

"**We got'em, boys! Sent those dirty bastards packing!" Captain Atic howled.**

**I let myself slip back down into the trench, turning to see an exhausted Demy slumped against the wall.**

"**Did we win?" I ask, foolishly.**

**He just shook his head. "No one ever wins."**


	7. Bad People

**CHAPTER SIX**

**Bad People**

**Cr00cy, are we rich on internet dollars yet?**

**Cr00cy: How would I know? **_**Continues to fan himself with big ass stack of internet dollars**_

* * *

_I've always kinda thought of myself as a 'bad girl,' you know?_

_And not like I'm the most exciting part of a reverse gender boy band or like 'I sneak into the liquor cabinet' either, but someone that had some real edge to them. _

_It took me years to really, truly, start seeing most of the Arc family as something more than a source of food and safety._

_It was hard not too, with where I spent most of my 'childhood.' _

_But I was wrong. Cause when I got to Vale? I started to remember what bad people really were._

_I'm pretty sure you can count me as one of them now._

* * *

I know we've been through this before, but Jaune is an incredibly kind and forgiving person. That being said, even he can get a little bit testy when you tell of his crush to fuck off. Luckily, I knew the way to Jaune's heart.

Sugar. Specifically, Pumpkin Pete's flavored ice cream. Give that boy a few bowls of the stuff and anything short of murder could be forgiven. And hell, I haven't even tested the limits on that last part.

Me? I'm a mint chocolate chip kinda girl. Go ahead, make the joke, I dare you.

Which is why we were currently sitting at Junior's bar, shoveling the sweet stuff into our mouths, with me carefully avoiding trying to talk about my little outburst.

"Sooooo, how are things at Beacon?" I tried.

Jaune hummed and stirred his spoon around the bottom of his bowl. "Ok, I guess."

"That good, huh?"

He made a noncommittal noise and reached for the carton of Pumpkin Pete's, scooping himself another rather generous portion out and plopping it down in his bowl. I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Gratuitous amounts of sugar a big part of the Huntsman diet?" I asked.

"It is if your name is Ruby or Nora." He grumbled back, stabbing his spoon down into the creamy substance.

"Last time I checked, yours wasn't."

He sighed and pushed the bowl away, flopping down onto the bar with a huff. "Not like it's going to matter anyway," he mumbled into his arms. "I'm never going to be a Huntsman.

Ah, we'd reached the reality point of Jaune's little dream. Truth be told, I always kind of figured that we would hit it sooner or later. I'd tried as hard as I could to get Jaune as caught up without Papa Arc cracking down on us, but not having Aura is not having Aura. You just can't teach someone to fight like they've got a force field when they don't. Well, kinda a force field I guess, it's more like...you ever like tense your abs when you know someone is going to punch you in the stomach? Yeah, it's like that, except that your abs start tensing all on their own. Except when they don't.

Listen, Aura is some weird bullshit that I benefit from but don't fully understand, and before you start getting all uppity about it I'd love for you to explain to me how your scroll works. And I mean how it _really _works, not that it uses electricity.

Yeah, I thought so.

Anywho, point being that we were going to have to deal with the fact that Jaune was a fraud and I was no teacher. There were several options on how to go about it, my favorite being pulling up stakes, abandoning this hero drama, and disappearing before Junior or Roman got wind of what we were planning. My Semblance is cool, but it's not cross-continent woman hunt cool. But looking over at my mopey ass best friend, currently about thirty seconds away from starting to write some poetry that Blake chick might be into, I knew that wasn't an option. Fucking feelings.

"There anyone at the school that might be able to help you out?" I tried. "Ren, Nora, Ruby?"

"Pyrrha offered." He half moaned.

Of course she did. I fought to keep from rolling my eyes and pressed on.

"That's good, right? She's like, some kind of famous fighter or something. She can help-"

"No!" I jumped as Jaune slammed his fist down on the bar, suddenly sitting up ramrod straight, an angry scowl on his face. "I don't want her help! I don't want anyone's help! Don't you get it, Em? I'm already a fraud, if I can't make it on my own, then I don't deserve to be there in the first place."

That was an interesting theory, and I decided to break down how I felt about it in the gentlest terms possible.

"Jaune, you know I love you, but that's the dumbest shit I've ever heard. Let me get this straight, you're already _years_ behind these other kids and you think your best option is to fucking refuse their help? Gods, but you can be dense."

Then Jaune decided to say some shit that would piss me off. I'm not sure if he knew which all buttons he was pressing, but let me tell you, he was damn good at pressing them.

He tsked and said. "You're just like Pyrrha-"

Strike one.

"-You just don't get it! You know how long I've been the dummy? The butt of the joke? You don't know what it's like!"

Strike two.

"Just once, I want to be the hero, the one that matters." He chose to get in my face and point at me for this next part, which was particularly ill advised. "I'll tell you the same thing I told her, I'm not supposed to be the damsel in distress!"

Strike three.

I took a slow, deep breath. Not to calm down mind you, but to destroy this motherfucker.

"You have approximately three seconds to get that finger out of my face before I turn you into a maiden, Jaune." He flinched at that. Years of growing up together had taught him that I rarely threatened violence that I wasn't willing to follow through on. His mouth worked up and down for a moment before he croaked out-

"H-hey, I-"

I wasn't about to slow down. "You want to know why you'll be a maiden? Because either way, you're still going to be a virgin. You want to know how I know that?"

He blushed and stammered, eyes trying to find something besides me to look at.

"Because you have the balls, though not for long, to tell a chick that has been in more tournaments than you'll ever be in women that you're not going to be a _damsel in distress._"

"T-that's not how I meant it!" He sputtered out. Hey, maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I wasn't in the business of fact finding, I was in the business of winning this goddamn argument.

"Oh? Then how did you mean it, Jaune?" I pressed. "Cause it sure seems like you've got a problem with a girl helping you out, cause she's a damsel. What about me, Jaune?" I snatched up the front of that dumbass hoodie he's always wearing and pulled him real close. "You think I'm a damsel?"

To my shock, Jaune swallowed, but didn't shrink back. He stared me down, dumb, deep blue eyes staring into my own.

"I meant that I don't need your or Pyrrha's help with this. Not with school and especially not with Cardin." He growled out.

I quirked an eyebrow at that. "Who the fuck is Cardin?"

His eyes darted to the side in that way that people who are really shitty at lying do and mumbled.

"Nobody."

I scanned his face for a minute, trying to find some hint of what the hell he was talking about before it dawned on me.

"Holy shit! Is someone bullying you!?"

"No!" He snapped out, still refusing to meet my gaze. I wasn't having it. We'd already been through this shit growing up. Jaune was always, and I mean always, the nail. Other people were the hammer and I was the hammer that broke other hammers.

"What'd he do, Jaune? I'll find out. I always do." I'd like to tell you that I wasn't threatening my childhood friend for the purpose of threatening his bullies, but...yeah.

"It's none of your business, Em!" He shot back. "Just let it be."

I scoffed. "Yeah? I'm pretty sure it became my business when I fucking got dragged into this bullshit job for your dumbass."

"I never asked you to!"

"And what was I supposed to do? Just watch you march off into the night with your dad's gear and hope that I didn't read your obituary over the next couple of weeks?"

"Maybe that's what I wanted!" He shouted back.

You ever hear that soul crushing shit? The kind that you can tell the other person immediately regrets from the look on their face, but they can't take back? Yeah…

"Oh…" I somehow managed to get out, letting go of Jaune and rocking back onto my stool.

"Em, I didn't-Neo?" He cut off in confusion.

Neo?

Sure enough, the sociopathic imp was sitting cross-legged on the bar, dipping Jaune's spoon into his discarded quart of Pumpkin Pete's and watching us with all the interest of a middle-aged mom watching her soap operas.

"Fucking Brothers." I groaned.

"Awww, what's wrong, Girly? Trouble in paradise?" I heard Roman's disturbingly familiar voice call from the door of the bar.

"Fuck off." I offered.

The mobster gave me a sigh and an exaggerated shrug. "Fraid not, Girly. I'm sorry, but we don't really do family days here at Roman inc." He pointed his cane towards Jaune. "It's time for blondie to be scarce."

"If it involves Em, then it involves me." Jaune challenged.

Also, hypocrisy, thy name is Jaune.

Roman just sighed and made a show of spinning his ridiculous cane. "You know, I was just thinking about how I want more teens affiliated with law enforcement agencies involved with my more...morally ambiguous dealings." He spread his arms wide, grinning. "And here you are, just waiting to volunteer! It must be fate!"

Jaune blinked and shifted uncomfortably. "Really?"

Roman's smile fell. "Hell no, kid. Now get out of here before you become a statistic."

Jaune's hand started to trail over to where his sword would have been if Junior hadn't recently implemented his 'no weapons' policy for Hunters. Big Cat still wasn't really over the whole Yang thing I guess. It was both incredibly flattering and incredibly stupid. Luckily, Neo was apparently in a pretty forgiving mood today, as she just grabbed Jaune's shoulder and raised an eyebrow. I took the opportunity to spare him a beating.

"Jaune, it's fine." I soothed. "You know this is the deal. Just go back to Beacon for now and I'll call you in a bit."

His eyes darted between me and the harpy perched on the bar for a minute before his shoulders relaxed and he nodded.

"Yeah, ok, but if they try anything you just call me and- urk!" He half choked as Neo shoved a spoonful of Pumpkin Pete's into his mouth and made a shushing with her finger to her lips.

"Neo, could you help Prince Charming be somewhere else? He seems to have forgotten his trusty steed."

Neo nodded happily, patted a confused Jaune on the head, then 'popped' out of existence. I'm not really sure what her Semblance is, but it's fucking terrifying.

"He better be ok." I growled, because I'm also a fan of empty threats. Roman just rolled his eyes.

"Calm down, she just dropped him off somewhere on the school grounds." He said, fishing around his coat for a cigar. "Worst case scenario? She left him in the womens' showers for shits and giggles." He hummed as he pulled one out and lit it. "Or maybe that's the best case scenario, that kid doesn't seem like he's going to be talking the pants off a lady anytime soon." He smirked, looking remarkably like an asshole. "Unless you're helping him out on that front...or back, to each their own."

"You know, it's good that you're back." I drawled, leaning back against the bar and fishing for a glass. "I thought it had been too long since I'd had a drink anyway." He slapped a hand over his heart in mock hurt, making his way towards the bar as Neo 'popped' back into being over by her favorite table and took a seat, a worrying grin on her face. She waved one of Junior's boys over to take her order. Ice cream. Always ice cream.

"Is that anyway to talk to your good friend Roman?" He asked dramatically, pulling up next to me and taking a seat at the bar.

"I don't know, you'll have to ask me when I've got a good friend named Roman. You see any around?" I replied, grabbing at a bottle under the counter and pulling up to see my prize. Gin. I hate gin. Today was not shaping up at all.

He scoffed. "Please, you should be so lucky as to know two of us. Besides, I thought you'd be jumping at the chance to get out of here for the day." He finished, gesturing towards the bar.

I _had_ been getting pretty sick of the place, disgusted really, but that wasn't enough to make me jump at whatever Roman had planned. During our short time together, I'd learned that if Roman wanted you to do something, it wasn't in anyone's interest but his. Still, that didn't mean that I couldn't try to play it to my advantage either. And there was definitely something I wanted now.

"Yeah, I have been thinking about getting out, stretching my legs…" I trailed off, pouring myself a glass and wincing at the smell.

The gangster grinned and held out a hand. "See? And here's good ole' Uncle Roman, trying to take care of you. Now, all you've got to do is-"

"I want to go to Beacon." The world ground to a halt, just as I expected it would, with Roman staring me down and fingering his cane. Neo shifted in her seat, angling the chair so that I wouldn't get in her way if she needed to move quickly. Great.

"I think you're forgetting how you got holed up here in the first place." He warned, lowly. "You don't get to make demands."

"It's not like that." I hurried out.

"Then tell me, what's it like, Girly?" Gods, but he could be an asshole.

"It doesn't make sense for me to be here all the time. People are going to get suspicious." I explained.

"You work here." He shot back, unconvinced.

"Yeah, and who spends all day every day at their job? You certainly don't." He opened his mouth for a retort, but I beat him to it. "Which is a good thing, because it makes you seem normal, like you're just a guy. A guy who goes to cafes, and bars, and probably a strip club or two judging from all the glitter on you." That last one wasn't smart, but I couldn't resist throwing it in. Neo was eyeing me with something between amusement and…respect? The girl is fucking weird, but I'd take this over her getting ready to kick my ass.

Again.

Roman looked considerably less amused.

"The café down the street isn't Beacon." He answered, icily.

"No, but I have friends at Beacon-" I argued.

"You have one friend at Beacon." He observed.

"I have friends at Beacon." I continued. Hey, Ren and Nora count. Maybe Ruby too. "Friends that are going to ask why I don't ever come visit. Why I don't ever come visit my _best friend." _Here was the tricky part, the threat that wasn't a threat. "They seem like a curious bunch. They might start asking other questions. Questions that _we _don't want them to." I was very careful to add that 'we' bit in. Otherwise, it might look like I was trying to strongarm him. Which I was, but you're not supposed to make it obvious. That's impolite.

Roman watched me for a second, looking for some sign of weakness, some flaw in my argument that he could pick at and make the whole thing come undone. I sipped on my shitty gin to hide my nervousness. I needed this. To get up to Beacon. Up to Jaune. And to whoever the fuck Cardin was.

"You're right…" He started out slowly, taking a slow pull from his cigar. I didn't wait for him to regroup.

"It just makes sense, right? I should-"

"You're right," he continued, ignoring me. "It would seem suspicious…_if_ you were his girlfriend." He blew a ring of smoke into my face that I fought to keep from coughing on. "But you're not, are you?"

I wasn't, but lying is both free and easy, so I gave it a shot.

"Maybe I am."

"Really? So if I have Neo here go interview lover boy, he's going to give her the same answer?" I slumped back against the bar and he nodded. "Yeah, thought so. Listen here, girly, I don't know why you want to get up to Beacon, but if you try to pull one over on me like that again, I'll make sure that your little not-boyfriend doesn't make it there either. Understood?"

"Yeah." I muttered.

He leaned forward and stared me down. "I can't hear you."

"Yes, I understand, Roman." I said, louder.

He leaned back, satisfied. "Good. Now that we've got that little bit of unpleasantness out of the way, are you ready to hear about your next job?"

"I'm giddy with excitement," I grumbled.

"As well you should be. You're going to get to be me today." He announced, spreading his arms out like he'd just announced that both my birthday and non-descript winter holiday had come early.

"You want me to do what now?" I asked, unbelieving. Roman just sighed and rolled his eyes, like I was the one that was being unreasonable.

"It's simple enough, girly," he drawled, just to piss me off. "I need you to be me."

"Sounds terrible." I said, earning a silent chuckle from Neo.

"Sound better than taking a dirt nap in an alley in the warehouse district?" He shot back, wiping the grin from my face. "Then shut up and listen to the job. You and Neo are going to go pay an old friend of mine a visit today. Except you're going to use that neat little trick of yours to make him think you're me. I want-"

"Why not just do it yourself?" I challenged, which wasn't very smart in retrospect, but no one has ever accused me of being overly bright. Roman stiffened, then relaxed.

"You ask a lot of goddamn questions, you know that?" He said, taking another puff of his cigar.

"I need to have an idea of what's going on if I'm going to pull this off." I tried. Really, I just wanted to know as much as I could to try to turn this around with the police if everything went south, but you know...lying is free and easy and all that. Roman considered me for a moment before shrugging, apparently deciding that it wasn't worth it to talk in circles anymore.

"My new employer has decided that my old friend is moving a bit too slowly with our new business venture. Thinks that he might be dragging his feet on purpose." He explained.

I shook my head. "If he's your friend, then why aren't you the one trying to convince him to go faster?"

"Because, I'm not trying to convince him to go faster." He reached out and took the bottle of gin from me and pulled a glass out from behind the bar. "I'm trying to convince his lieutenant that _he_ can move faster."

"Oh," was all I could manage as the words sank in.

"Yeah," he confirmed, knocking back a shot of gin. "The problem is that my friend is the suspicious type."

"Smart."

He grunted in agreement. "He'd probably take offense to me having a meeting with one of his boys without him." He explained, turning the glass in his hands before looking back over to me. "But if I were talking to him at the same time that I was having said meeting, then he wouldn't have any reason to be suspicious, would he?"

This was starting to sound more and more like something that I didn't want to be a part of.

"I can't fool more than one person at a time." I really didn't like reminding him of my limitations, but if it meant getting out of this, I'd make the trade.

"I remember." He said, knocking his ash into his now empty glass. "Which is why you're going with Neo. She'll be able to make you look the part, all you have to do is keep your sizable mouth shut till you're alone with him."

Damn, Little Miss Psycho's Semblance was really something. I still wasn't sold though.

"What makes you think that he'll see me alone?"

"Because," Roman started lowly as he stared into cherry of his cigar. "Bane trust me. At least, as far as you're allowed to trust someone in this business."

"Gods, you're really going to do this? To your friend?" I whispered.

"Yeah, Girly, I am."

I couldn't stop the inevitable question. "Why?"

He sighed as snubbed his cigar out in his glass. "Because if comes down to you or me? I'm always choosing me. Can't afford to do anything else in this business." He gave me a look that wasn't anything of the things I expected. Neither angry or sad, just tired. So very, very tired. "Best remember that, Girly. Now, get your things. Don't want to be late to your big meeting, do you?"

* * *

The walk Bane's building had been mostly quiet, and not just because it was with Neo. I just didn't have shit to say. What are you supposed to say in a situation like that?

No, I'm really asking.

My first thought had been to ask about the guy we were going to go meet. Now, that might not have been a bad idea for the purpose of keeping a conversation going with the guy, but I didn't trust myself not to freak anymore than I was already if I found out something like he had a wife or, Gods forbid, a kid.

So instead, I just pulled out my scroll and wrote about a dozen apology texts to Jaune before deleting them. Neo spotted me doing so and pointed to my new scroll, the latest generation of iSchnee, courtesy of Weiss herself before she wised up and canceled her credit card. We spent the last twelve blocks arguing back and forth, which is an interesting proposition with a murderous mute, about which were better - iSchnees or PolTechs.

If I didn't know her to be the heartless little monster that she is, I would say that she was doing it take my mind off of it. Which it did. For the rest of the walk at least. Once we reached the building, it all came flooding back.

'Big Daddy' Bane's office was pretty nondescript in and of itself, perfectly positioned on that part of town where the good part of town slipped into...something else. It was a gray, squat four-story building that looked like it could have just as easily housed a dental or law practice rather than one of the biggest muscle and drug dealers in the city. Well, I suppose the two guys standing around the door in all black suits might have been a tip off. Seriously though, to all gangsters frequent the same tailor? And if so, who is it?

Roman?

I didn't have too long to mull over their fashion choices before one of them, the taller one, greeted me with a nod. "Roman."

I had to fight everything in me not to look around for the thief before I realized he was talking to me. Neo jabbing me in the leg helped out with that last bit.

I nodded back like a dummy.

The shorter man chuckled. "You tired, Roman? That little hellion stressing you out?" He said, motioning towards Neo, who mocked gasped and put her hand over her heart. "Yeah, you! Don't think we forgot about that job down in the Dust district."

She tapped her finger slowly against her lips while looking up into the sky. The taller man rolled his eyes. "The one where you blew up half the block?"

The imp made some series of gestures that I'm 100% certain aren't any form of sign language and the man looked unimpressed.

"Yeah, well we have different definitions of the word 'necessary.' Maybe we could teach you."

Neo just smirked and shrugged, which seemed to piss the two off. I took that as my cue to do _something_ and made a big show of sighing and looking at my watch. The two men in black straightened and coughed.

"Sorry about that, Roman." The shorter one apologized. "The boss is ready for you."

"Right this way," the taller one agreed, pushing open one of the steel double doors of the entrance and allowing us inside. The inside of the building was the polar opposite of the outside, covered from floor to ceiling with lavish displays of wealth.

Loud, clashing, mismatched displays of wealth. I take it back, these guys definitely weren't taking notes on design from Roman. They were more like hoarders, taking anything shiny and throwing it up on their wall. My shock must have shown on my face, because the bigger guy sighed and shook his head.

"I know, Roman, you tell us every time you're here." He put on a fancy voice and did a Roman impression, which - funnily enough, was way better than anything I could have managed. "'I can't believe you animals live like this! Don't you have any sense of style!?'" It was so on point that I actually had to fight back a giggle, a very girly giggle, from spilling past my lips. I settled for just snorting like a pig.

The guy just grinned, clearly pleased with himself, and led us to a stairwell at the end of the hall and walked us up to the fourth floor. He pushed open the door and revealed a hallway that was, while just as loud as the first floor, certainly more put together. Lush red carpet led down the long hall, flanked on both sides by pieces of art that I had most certainly seen on our little family trips to Vale's many museums. They were either really, really good replicas, or the arts district might need to due some revaluation of their net worth.

I must have stared like an idiot for a bit too long, because the shorter guy - let's just call him Shorty - coughed and nodded towards the door at the end of the way, a confused look on his face. I gathered what little dignity and faith I had in this dumbass plan and started to swagger down towards what was clearly Bane's door. Side note, you ever try to swagger on purpose? That shit is hard. I'm way sure that I ended up shaking my ass more than you're supposed when you swagger.

Once we got to the boss' large oak door, Shorty reached out a knocked twice with its giant gaudy, golden knocker, shaped to look like a lion. I shot him a look and he rolled his eyes, clearly over it at this point.

"Who is it?" A disturbingly deep voice called from the other side of the door.

Shorty just sighed and rested his head against the door. "Boss, it's Reggie, your two o'clock is here!"

"Who's that?" The thunderous voice yelled back.

The taller goon chuckled at his partner as Reggie cursed. "Boss, it's Torchwick! You remember? You asked to meet him!"

"When?"

"Today!" Reggie shouted back, face turning red. Neo and the big guy were practically rolling on the floor at this point, both trying to keep it as quiet as they could. I'll let you guess which one of the two was more successful at that.

"Don't let him in the building yet! Make that motherfucker wait for a minute. Gods know that his arroga-"

"Boss!" Reggie shouted, eyes wide as he slammed on the door. "He's _here_!"

A long, awkward silence followed as we all stared at the door like it was going to give us the answers to some of life's great mysteries. Instead, we got-

"Like I said, let him in! No friend of mine gets left waiting."

This time my hand beat Reggie's to the door, pushing down on the handle and mouthing 'thanks' as sarcastically as I could to the embarrassed goon while swinging the door open. Sitting there, feet propped up on what had to be a _very_ expensive desk, was one of the biggest fucking guys I've ever seen. We're talking bigger than Papa Arc big. Massive shoulders and arms stretching a stark white suit to the max, with buttons that looked like they were in danger of becoming projectile weapons straining to keep the jacket closed. He smiled at me sheepishly, which I assure you looks as out of place as it sounds on a man that big.

"Roman! Sorry about all that. Good to see you, man!"

I held the door open long enough for my Semblance to take hold, then let it swing close, leaving Neo and his goons in the hallway. I gathered up my shaky at best confidence and spoke in Roman's voice.

"Good to see you too, Bane."

The giant of a man pushed back from the desk, nearly sending the contents of said desk spilling to the floor.

"How long has it been, you sonuvabitch?" He boomed with a wide smile, circling around his desk and reinforcing just how fucking tall and big he was. He spread his arms wide, causing at least two buttons to fly off his chest, and started lumbering towards me. "Come here you old dog!"

I realized in a panic what the big guy wanted. Panic for multiple reasons. One, I'm not a big huggy-feely kinda girl. Two, I'm a girl, which is something that I feared might become all too apparent once the big man wrapped me up in an Ursa-hug. I'm not Weiss after all. I rallied as quickly as I could and poked the spare cane Roman had given me into the giant's chest.

"Whoa there, big guy. Not today." I said in my awkward Roman voice.

Bane just grinned and shook his head. "Still worried about me ruffling that suit of yours, huh?"

Sure, let's go with that.

"More you touching it with that monstrosity that you call a suit." I shot back, doing my best to out Roman Roman.

The big man tsked. "My suit is just fine, thank you."

My gaze shifted over to one of the buttons still settling on the floor. "Fine, huh?"

"Ok, so I might have put on a few pounds." He grumbled, attempting to pull his jacket closed again. I swear that I could hear the material screaming. "But that's not the suit's fault!" He defended. I couldn't help myself, I started laughing.

"Nope, just yours." I answered with a smile that found its way to my lips with disturbing ease.

The monster of a man huffed as he fell back in his chair. "Why are we friends again, Roman?"

"Probably because it's mutually beneficial." I offered.

He hummed. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Doesn't feel that way lately though." He said, leaning back in his chair, his feet popping back onto the desk. I figured that was my cue to jump in.

"What's bothering you, Bane? You look like you've been stress eating." I teased. I don't know, being an asshole just seemed like the Roman thing to do.

Bane shot me a playful glare. "I've been stress lifting," he clarified. "And you'd be stressed too, if your friend kept trying to push an unreasonable schedule on you."

Roman had said that this was probably the intent of the meeting. I took a slow breath and steeled my nerves as started to wander around the room, trying to look disinterested.

"Nothing unreasonable about it, big guy. Just trying to stay on schedule." I said as started fiddling with a very expensive looking globe.

The giant grunted. "Whose schedule?"

I glanced back over my shoulder at him. "Mine."

"Ah!" He let out, a grin coming over his face. "Well then, since we've already determined that we're friends, then you shouldn't have any trouble slowing down the schedule, right? After all, it's your schedule, isn't it?" He left the question hanging in the air, eyes boring holes straight through me.

Big guy was sharper than he let on. A whole lot sharper.

You ever have one of those moments where you don't know what to say, so you just stare at someone like an idiot, hoping that the answer will appear out of thin air? Ok, now imagine that, except that you're pretending to be someone else while trapped in a room with a guy that looks like he could strangle a Beowolf with his bare hands. I guess what I'm trying to say is...fuck your moment, mine was worse.

Bane sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "It isn't your schedule, is it, Roman?"

I didn't really know what to say to that, so I panicked and did something incredibly stupid. I told the truth.

"No." I whispered before I could think about what the words might mean for me or Bane. Hell, I didn't know they meant anything besides that they were the truth. I'll tell you what I did know. My damn heart was about to jump out of my throat.

"Who's schedule is it?" He asked again, voice now ice cold.

I swallowed, throat suddenly dry as a Vacuan desert. "I don't know."

"Bullshit!" He snapped as his hand slammed down on the desk, splintering the thick and expensive wood like balsa. I'd like to tell you that I didn't jump about a foot, but you know...we already talked about lying.

"I don't know her name! Just what she wants!" I shouted back, probably a few octaves higher than Roman would have. The titan stared at me for a few moments, seeming to weigh my words, and if I were to guess, my life in the span. He slowly started to shake his head.

"Brothers, Roman, what have you done?" Bane said as he rocked forward, giant mitt of a hand closing down around one of his desk drawers. I won't lie, in that moment I thought _real_ hard about lunging at the big guy with the prop cane Roman had given me and seeing if I could beat him into submission. It was only the follow up thought about what a terrible fucking idea that was that stopped me long enough for the familiar tinkling of crystal to reach my ears as he fished out two glasses and a bottle of amber liquid. I fought to keep my knees from shaking as he popped the top off and poured two very generous helpings before taking one in each hand and rising from his seat.

As impossibly big as Bane had seemed when I walked into the room, he seemed to be at least twice that size as his thunderous steps closed the distance between us. When he reached me, towering over even Roman's illusionary frame, he gently held out a glass and we both pretended my hand wasn't shaking when I took it.

"That bad?" He asked, not unkindly.

"'Fraid so." I answered quietly.

He took a long pull of his drink. "I figured, what with how you were fluttering all around the room like an asshole. Never known the great Roman Torchwick not to try to stare someone down while he shakes 'em down." He sighed again. "Whoever she is, she may be bad, but she's not as bad as the two of us combined. We own this city, Roman. Always have, always will. No bitch from the outside is going to take it from us without prying it from our cold, dead fingers."

The shock of not being crushed to death must have still been showing on my face pretty well, because the giant chuckled. "Surprised I figured it out? Come on now, Roman. All those hints over the past couple of weeks to go faster? You must have known that I would have gotten pissed and called you here." He smirked. "I gotta admit though, it was a pretty clever way to call a meeting without actually calling one." He held out his glass for a toast and nodded. "Well played, my friend."

I'll tell you this, the sound that fucking glass made when I clicked mine against his will forever be one of my least favorite memories, topped only by the bitter taste of the liquor as it poured down my throat and refused to settle in my stomach.

Bane made a satisfied noise as he finished draining his glass and laid a giant hand on my shoulder. "Now, I want you to tell me everything-"

A sharp knock on the door saved me from spilling my guts right there and then. Bane rolled his eyes in frustration and shouted back. "What?"

"Sorry, boss. Neo is out here saying that they need to go." Reggie called through the door.

The giant snorted. "Tell her that her boss and I are having a conversation. A very important conversation." There was a brief pause before Reggie spoke again.

"She just keeps pointing to her watch and dragging her thumb across her neck." He coughed nervously. "She's getting real antsy out here, boss. Can you get Roman to tell her something?" Bane shifted his very much intimidating gaze over to me and raised an eyebrow.

Well, that was a pickle now wasn't it? I could fool Bane into thinking that my voice was Roman's, but Reggie and his friend who I couldn't see? Now that was another matter entirely. I stared at the giant still holding on to me for what felt like an eternity, which probably equates to about a second or two in non-panicking time, trying to find something to say. The big guy had his mouth about halfway open to ask a follow up question that I probably didn't want to answer before it hit me. I motioned him forward and leaned in, just close enough to speak in a whisper.

"_She's_ calling." I said with as much hidden meaning as I could muster, hoping that it'd do something for the titan. Boy did it.

His eyes immediately lit up in understanding and he squeezed my shoulder again. "You need to go." He whispered back. "Can't have her getting suspicious that you're ignoring her calls. You tell her whatever you need to, you hear me? Tell her that I rolled over and fell in line." He patted me on the shoulder once more and smiled. "And try to put some of that swagger back in your step, huh? We're going to get through this, you and me, together."

I nodded dumbly and muttered, "together," which did all sorts of uncomfortable things to my stomach, but ended the conversation. Bane turned back to the door and said something that I don't really remember. A second later I was shaking hands with Reggie and his buddy, whatever his name was, and then I was being ushered out the door by Neo, trying my damnedest not to make eye contact with Bane. I failed for the record. I turned back as I was leaving the room, just in time to see the big bastard mouthing, 'together.'

The rest is a blur. If the walk to Bane's building had been quiet and awkward, then the walk back to Junior's was a fucking silent film. I don't even think I looked at Neo again till I was watching her bang on the tall wooden doors of 'The Club.' One of Junior's boys, who I definitely should have remembered, I think he was the guy who took over my table once, cracked the door open and motioned us inside. I zombie walked my way towards the bar, or maybe Neo led me, it gets hard to tell, and took a seat.

"You look like shit." A voice spoke beside me, making me half hop out of my seat. I suddenly became aware of the fact that Roman was sitting next to me, drink in hand and half empty bottle on the bar in front of him. More importantly, I found that there was a tall glass of something brown sitting in front of me too. I snatched it up and knocked it back before a very unladylike coughing fit hit me.

"Easy there, Girly." He said, the usual venom gone from his voice. "Take it slow."

I fought back as much of the fit as I could before answering. "You look like shit too."

He hummed as he took another pull. "Lot of that going around I guess."

I stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to say something, anything. My natural impatience eventually won out. "How'd it go?"

He chose to ignore my question, which should have been annoying, but I was just so goddamn tired.

"Neo says you did good." He said instead.

"Doesn't feel like it." I muttered into my empty glass before reaching for the bottle and refilling it. "Feels like I barely made it out alive."

He chuckled. "Yeah, it usually does." He took another swig and licked his lips. "Hey, how was he-" He shook his head and held up a hand. "Don't answer that, I shouldn't have asked. I'm just a little drunk. Don't worry, Neo will drive me home, so long as she can reach the pedals." He joked as he pushed away from the bar.

"Roman, how'd it go?" I insisted, turning to follow him. He looked at me with some weird combination of pity, which I was pretty used to, and consideration, which I'm less so, and said.

"Don't worry about it. You did good out there today, Em." While I was still processing the use of my actual name, he pointed to Junior, who had also somehow snuck up on me behind the bar. "Take the bottle, John, she's had enough."

I had a retort for that, but by the time I'd formulated it, Neo and Roman had disappeared using whatever shit that she does. I instead turned to take up the issue with Junior, but Big Cat was already pushing a mug of something warm and steamy into my hands. It was either hot cocoa or tea, but I'll be damned if I can remember which. Whatever it was, it took the fight right out of me, because the next thing I do recall is having a big ass hand push my own scroll into my palm. To my surprise, it was ringing. I put it to my ear and said, 'hello' on autopilot.

It was Jaune.

We ended up spending the next two hours talking about his day at Beacon. His incredibly dull, boring, dumb day at Beacon. Apparently, he'd sorted out his bully problem all on his own. Or rather, he'd done it with Pyrrha. Something deep down told me that I should be jealous about that last bit for some reason, but you know what?

I've never been so happy just to hear someone's voice before. And there was no voice I'd rather hear than Jaune's.

It kept me from watching the news that night, which was important. I wouldn't find out that a large, unidentified body had washed up at the docks until a couple of weeks later.

* * *

Memory Lane

Jaune and I have a weird relationship, which I figure probably isn't shocking to you at this point, but let's focus on a particular aspect of its weirdness for a second.

I would do just about anything for Jaune, and he knows that. Here's the thing though, Jaune doesn't ever want to be the one who picks what we do. Well, except for that whole 'becoming a Huntsman' thing, but that was an exception. A dumb exception if you ask me, but that's besides the point.

The point is, I was the one who generally ended up choosing the activity of the day. Which is why we were currently skipping our last class and trying to hotwire some guy's truck in the school parking lot.

"Dammit, Em, I can't believe you talked me into this." Jaune complained for roughly the hundredth time in the past five minutes.

"And yet here we are." I replied, head firmly buried in the mess of wires of torn apart console.

"Why'd you even need me?"

"Because I thought it might be fun to hear someone complain the whole time I was doing something complicated." I shot back.

It was really because I needed someone to watch my ass while I was working, almost literally in this case, since I was currently folded over the driver's seat fiddling with the rainbow of wires under the wheel. In my defense, this had been a lot easier when I was practicing on Papa Arc's old pickup. And yeah, I probably should have picked a similar model to try this on, but this truck was fancy as hell. Fresh from Atlas.

Too bad that meant it was basically a spaceship and I had no idea what I was doing.

"Em, we're going to get caught." Jaune whined. I could practically feel him nervously scanning the lot, convinced that all of the local police department were about to hop out of the bed of this guy's truck.

"We're not going to get caught," I said. "Who's going to catch us? Officer Onyx? That guy can't make it from his office to the cafeteria without having to stop for a snack break."

"He still patrols the grounds, Em." He said, now standing over me from the sound of it. Good lookouts are hard to find.

"He's trolling for something alright, but the girls' locker room is back that way."

"Gods, you're an asshole sometimes." He grunted, starting to push in next to me.

"What the fuck are you doing!" I snapped.

"Trying to see what you're doing." He shot back.

"Trying to hotwire a car, Jaune. You know, the thing you're supposed to be my lookout for?"

"Trying is the key word, huh?" Jaune thinks he's cute sometimes.

"You wanna switch? That what you're saying?"

He shrugged. "Couldn't do much worse."

"Well, be my guest! You get down here and try to figure this shit out and I'll fuck off out there, bitching while I stare at your-"

_Beep. Beep._

My heart froze as the lights of the truck flashed and the sound of all the doors that hadn't been jimmied open unlocking filled my ears.

We were fucked.

"Jaune?" An uncertain but familiar voice asked.

"Uh, hi Crys. Hey, are you ok?" He replied, at first nervous, then concerned. I popped up out of the truck and tried to position myself as best I could to block the damage I'd done as I faced the oldest Arc sister.

"Hey! Crystal! How's it going?" I asked, about twice as loudly as I needed to, like the noise would somehow distract her. It didn't.

"What are you two doing?" She asked, ignoring both our questions as she eyed us both suspiciously, streaks of tear stained makeup running down her face. Apparently it was not going well.

"Nothing," I tried, being the inspired liar I am.

"Em, are you trying to steal Navy's truck?" She demanded. Ah, that explained why it'd looked so familiar. It was her boyfriend's, her very well off boyfriend's, truck.

"Whaaaa? No, I'd never do that to Navy. He's such a great guy."

"He's an asshole." She snapped.

"Oh thank the Brothers you finally figured that out." I said with a sigh. "That guy is a grade A douche."

"I've been made aware." She replied shakily. Jaune had already walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her.

"What happened?" He asked, squeezing her gently.

"I was going to go by the gym to grab him so we could ride home together, but I couldn't find him." She sniffed and shook her head. "Then I _heard _them beneath the bleachers."

"Who?" Jaune asked with a wince.

"Navy and that slut Marigold." She growled.

"The ditsy cheerleader?" I offered helpfully.

"The soon to be dead ditsy cheerleader." She confirmed. Crystal, like most of the women of the Arc household, was not to be fucked with.

"What an asshole."

"That's what I said." She said with a weak laugh.

"We'll take care of it." Jaune promised, already starting back towards the school.

"No, Jaune." She said, grabbing him by his hoodie. "I can deal with Navy on my own. Thank you though." She added.

"But I-"

"Jaune, I've got this." She assured him in a tone that left no room for argument. He looked more than a little conflicted, but he eventually grunted and nodded.

"What brought you up here?" I asked. "I'm guessing that you're not riding anywhere with the guy anytime soon."

She nodded back towards the truck. "Left my purse and figured I'd grab it before we had the big fight and he took his spare keys back." She said, holding up the key fob and shaking it. "Gods, I can't believe you were trying to steal his car."

"Trying is the key word." Jaune teased, poking me in the side.

"Fuck you." I shot back.

Crystal laughed. "I'm not surprised, it's really new. Not like dad's old POS you keep playing with."

"How did you-" I started, before she gave me an unimpressed look that said I wasn't half as smart as I thought I was. I cursed, which made her smile again, before her eyes seemed to light up with an idea.

"But you know, these new Atlesian models don't have keys, they just use a fob…"

"Yeah," I sighed, "figured that out when I opened it up. I tried fiddling around in there, but I'm just not sure how-"

"Em." She cut me off.

"Yeah?"

She held up the fob and pressed a button, causing the truck to roar to life.

"Congrats on hot wiring your first, and last, car. Go take it somewhere nice and scenic with Jaune. Like the bottom of a lake."

Gods but I love the Arcs.

* * *

**The Aftermath**

**The battle was terrifying in a way that the storms of the sea of fandom had somehow never been. The storm was dangerous, and the sea could swallow you whole and pull you down to its dark depths, but that was simply its nature. It was inherent to shipping and sailing.**

**But this...this was different. There had been an intent to this that hadn't been there before. A desire not that I should see the ship that they had built, but that I should understand that my own was wrong. It baffled me, and I turned to the senior man in the unit, Sgt Light, to ask about it when I saw him standing up and staring across the battlefield.**

"**Sir, get down! You'll be shot!" I cried out, grabbing at his coat. He shook his head calmly and tiredly, gently prying my hands off.**

"**We're safe for now, my friend. The battle is over and now the Archivist is taking count."**

"**The Archivist?" I asked, confused. He pointed out to the battlefield, where a lone man walked among the fallen, stopping and tending to wounded here and there. He seemed to my eyes to be the most exhausted man I'd ever seen.**

"**I knew an Archivist called Nyx once upon the seas." I commented as we watched the man work.**

"**Perhaps he is the same one." Light said. "They have many different roles."**

"**What is it that he's doing?" I asked. "Counting those that will switch sides."**

**Light shook his head again. "No, no one ever switches sides in these wars. They just get tired of fighting and eventually leave. The Archivist collects their stories before they go."**

"**And them leaving, that is considered a victory for our side?" I asked, incredulous.**

**He just shrugged. "So they say."**


	8. Fight Knight

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**Readability brought to you by the illustrious Cr00cy**

**Just a heads up since I've gotten some questions about it. The end sections are just me riffing on the nature of writing and fandom. You can take them or leave them and the main story remains the same.**

**Fight Knight**

* * *

_Growth is a weird thing._

_Like, you ever get really close to someone, and I mean really get to know them on that deep, real level, then miss out on part of their life?_

_Sometimes they're not the same person that you remember. Sometimes, they keep pushing forward without you. And even if it's a good thing, like they're improving themselves or something...you still feel like you got kinda left out. You feel a little jealous._

_I don't know. I'm definitely rambling now. _

_I guess what I'm saying is, Pyrrha, if by some miracle you get this...thanks and I'm sorry._

_Gods, but that part hurt._

* * *

The next week passed pretty much like any 'normal' week of working at Junior's, which meant swindling drunk rich people out of their money and teaching dumb drunk rich people why trying to slap my ass was a bad idea. Junior was actually surprisingly supportive of that last part. I guess raising two girls had given him a different perspective than I was used to club owners having.

More importantly, 'The Club,' and therefore the casino, were prepping for some kind of big to-do that night, which meant that I had the day off. I had resolved to spend it with my favorite pastime, sitting at the bar and filling Junior in on all the juicy gossip he craved while he cleaned.

"He just keeps talking about this red bitch." I complained.

He picked up a glass and started wiping it down. "Em, how many times and how many ways do I have to tell you? I don't give a damn."

Junior likes to pretend that he doesn't care. You know, to keep up appearances for the boys. I, understanding his dilemma, decide to tell him anyway so he doesn't miss out. I'm just a good person like that.

"It's fucking non-stop! Pyrrha this, Pyrrha that. Pyrrha can take on an entire team single handedly."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "No shit?"

"You're missing the point!" I groaned.

He let out a heavy sigh as he set the glass down. "That's because there is no point. There's never a fucking point. It's just you bitching about this girl over and over again."

I let him finish his little rant. He was certainly putting on quite a show for the boys today.

"Big Cat?" I asked.

He ran a hand down his face and rested his elbows on the bar. "Yeah, Em?"

"You raised two girls, right?"

"They're alive and not pregnant, so close enough I guess."

"Then at any point did you really believe you telling me that you didn't want to hear about this would stop me from telling you about it?"

"Wow, you're right, I am being the unreasonable one." He deadpanned.

"Great! Glad we're on the same page. Now, where was I?"

He began rubbing his temples. "You were talking about this red-haired chick, I think."

"Yeah, Pyrrha. She's a bitch."

He scowled. "Wait, I thought you liked this one?"

I rolled my eyes. Sometimes Junior isn't the best active listener. "You're thinking of Nora, she's cool."

"Gods, but there's too many of you." He grumbled. "Ok, what did Pyrrha do?"

"What hasn't she done?" I said, glad Junior was finally on my level. "She's constantly badgering him! Jaune, eat this. Jaune, train with me. Jaune, it's time to study. She's trying to insert herself into every aspect of his life!"

"Yeah, that does sound pretty fucking crazy. Can't imagine what it'd be like to know a person like that." He answered in a tone that I wasn't entirely in love with. I narrowed my eyes and gave him my most intimidating glare. He wasn't impressed.

"That's entirely different." I shot back.

"Yeah, she sounds like she's trying to improve his life." He quipped. Asshole.

"Yeah? I wonder why?" I asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

He sighed again. "Because she likes him, Em. It's not that complicated."

"Exactly!" I shouted, poking a finger into the big guy's chest. "She's got ulterior motives!"

"Wow, big word for you."

"Go fuck yourself, Junior." I suggested kindly.

He rolled his eyes. "Why do you care? You're not dating the guy, right?"

"No." I answered for about the hundredth time in a growl.

"Great!" He said, clapping his hands together. "Then we agree that your friend is dating a hottie that is helping him improve. One that I probably should have looked into recruiting if that 'entire team' thing is true."

"They're not dating, and you're missing the point again!" I shouted.

"I'm pretty sure that's you." He grumbled.

"What was that?" I snapped.

Junior took a slow, deep breath and let it out. "Look, if I make you a drink, will you shut up long enough for me to get ready for tonight?"

"Depends."

"On?"

"Is it going to be good?"

He leaned against the bar and stuck a finger in my face. "I don't make bad drinks."

Big Cat is touchy about weird things.

"Fiiiinnnee." I said with my best exasperated sigh. "What am I having?"

"Hopefully a heart attack." He muttered as he began pulling ingredients out from behind the bar. I spotted bourbon, decidedly not my favorite, as well as what looked like bitters, some syrup, and orange. The bourbon, bitters, and syrup went into the glass in portions that I don't really remember. What I do remember is the orange, which he peeled, then zested into the glass, before pulling out a lighter and lighting the peel on fire. He then dropped it into the concoction where it hissed and sizzled. The logical part of me thought that last bit was a bit excessive, but the pyro in me said otherwise. He slid the glass over and I picked it up hesitantly, slowly bringing it to my lips.

"Oh!" Was all I could manage before I took another, deeper sip. Junior's snort and smirk only somewhat dampened my enjoyment of the drink.

"You're fucking right, 'oh.'" He said, far too proud of himself. That being said, the drink was delicious.

"What is it?" I asked, ready to mentally mark it down.

"It's an Old Fashioned."

"Goddammit, Junior." I muttered, setting the glass down.

"Hey, I'll drink it if you won't." He offered, reaching for the glass. I snatched it back towards my chest protectively.

"Don't you have club stuff to do?"

He chuckled. "I'm guessing you like it then, huh?"

"Maybe." I allowed. "What are we doing tonight anyway?"

His visage darkened at that. "Fight night."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "That sounds cool."

"A fight night for some less than reputable people." He grumbled.

"Oh. Shit." I articulated.

"Pretty much." He said with a sigh. "So please, be on your best behavior."

"Aren't I always?"

"Better than your best behavior then." He amended. Asshole.

"Fine." I muttered. "I'll be good."

"Great. Now just sit here quietly and enjoy that. Chris will keep feeding you drinks if you stay here and be good."

"Can I watch the fights?" I asked.

"Depends."

"On?"

"Are you going to try to tune up any drunk that makes a pass at you?"

"Probably." I admitted.

"Then no, you can't watch." He decided.

"Fucking fine." I replied, taking another sip of my delicious drink. "Probably was going to be dumb anyway."

"Yes." He said, pointing at me and backing away. "Completely dumb. You should stay here. Stay." He commanded like I was a dog.

I just sighed and sipped on my drink as I watched the boys go to work. Great fighters they might not be, but they certainly knew how to run a bar. Tables were moved aside and chairs disappeared downstairs to the casino as they cleared out the bar. They erected giant projector screens around the sides of the newly opened space and set up a rope barrier leading down towards the casino, which - judging from the various pieces of padding and cage that they were carrying down, was where the actual fight would take place.

I watched this all unfold for a good long time, all the while Chris, who turned out to be the guy I couldn't remember the name of, refilled my drink. His wasn't as good as Junior's but it was still pretty damn good. Chris wasn't too hard on the eyes either, with his blond hair and dumb tall frame. Which for some reason, around drink three or four, had me about ready to dial Jaune before _it _happened.

_It_ also happened to be blonde, but significantly less welcome in Junior's bar as it turned out. The one and only Yang Xiao Long kicked, and I do mean that literally, the doors of the bar open as she threw her arms out wide and exclaimed.

"How's it hanging, boys?"

I could tell she was less welcome, because Chris muttered some things about mothers and intercourse that don't really bear repeating in polite company. At least, I assume you're all polite company. You could be a bunch of degenerates for all I know. I decided that cute boys shouldn't panic so much and reassured Chris that I had the situation under control by pressing my finger against his lips, or maybe his nose - I'm pretty much a lightweight, and rising from my seat. Chris made a few noises of protest at my generosity that I politely ignored as I headed towards the blonde bombshell.

"Yang, how the fuck you been!?"

The girl blinked before recognizing me. "Em!"

"Yours truly." I exclaimed, wrapping her a hug that she may or may not have been ready for. "What brings you down to our neck of the woods?"

She squeaked before answering. "Just looking for a place to spend a slow Saturday."

I let her go and placed a finger against her lips, I get pretty touchy when the booze gets flowing, and asked in a hushed tone. "Hey, can you keep a secret?"

"Uh, sure?"

"We're kinda doing a thing tonight. Big fight night type thing. Super hush-hush." I could tell she was appreciative from the way her face lit up. Her surprisingly cute face.

"Oh, no way! I love fight nights!" She exclaimed, half doing the same - vibrate when excited - thing that Nora does. I felt bad breaking the news to her.

"Well, we're not allowed to watch the fights..." I lamented, watching her face fall and feeling the tension amongst the boys ratchet up to about an eleven out of ten. "But we can drink for free." I finished. And just like that, a crisis was averted. The boys said prayers of thanks to various gods and goddesses as I led Yang back towards the bar by the hand, which seems kinda unnecessary looking back. Eh, it's probably not a big deal.

I introduced Yang to my new favorite drink and my new favorite bartender, who was noticeably on edge as he mixed our drinks. Even burned himself with the lighter at one point. Apparently he and Yang had some kind of history, which I suspected was the same history that made the rest of the boys give us a gigantic ring of personal space and the twins stay mysteriously absent, but hey, a girl doesn't kiss and tell. At least, not until a few more drinks in.

Sadly, having the bar to ourselves didn't last, as the club steadily started to fill in with our 'special' clientele for the evening, which included a ton of faunus for some reason, and the open seating at the bar started to press us in. Yang looked around curiously with her big doe lilac eyes and asked.

"Wow, there's a lot of-" She bit her lip. "I mean, I'm just not used to seeing this many-"

"Junior is progressive like that." I lied, patting her on the back. "Just trying to make sure that everyone has a place to hang out."

She smiled at that. "Everyone, huh?"

"Well, maybe not you." I amended. "But I like you, so you're cool."

"Awww." She cooed, "glad to know I make the list."

I made finger guns at her, which is a move that I stole from Jaune and immediately regretted doing so, and said. "There's just something about ya."

She giggled, which I decided I liked. "Gee, wonder what it could be?"

I was about to offer a few suggestions when an asshole, who I still have never bothered to learn the name of, slid up to the bar and put a hand on Yang's back, making her still and stiffen.

"I've got a few ideas." He said, relaxed enough that I could tell this hadn't been the first time that he'd used that line. In his defense, it had probably worked for him once or twice. Said asshole was tall and lean, his black t-shirt tight enough that you could see the layers of muscle underneath. Unfortunately for him, Yang wasn't having it.

"You should probably keep those to yourself." She snipped as she forcibly removed his hand, which was steadily moving downwards, from her back.

"Aww, come on, Goldilocks, don't be like that." He soothed, starting to wrap his arm around her shoulders. "You'd like me if you got to know me."

"Yeah? Somehow I doubt that." She answered, bumping him off.

I thought about stepping in, I really did. Honest. But here's the thing, I was pretty tipsy at this point, and from the look in Yang's eye, I was about to get some free entertainment. Can't watch the fights my ass.

As it turned out, the guy was about as good at picking up on social cues as he was women, because he decided that what he should do was snatch up her arm and call her a bitch before grabbing at her ass again.

Clearly chivalry isn't dead after all.

Look, I like to think that I can take care of myself. I'm fast, I'm accurate, and I can fold a person up if the situation calls for it. That being said, the next second and a half let me know that I should never, ever fuck with a Xiao Long that didn't want to be fucked with. She turned and hit the guy with a combination so fast that it took my brain a second to catch up with it. Honestly, I didn't fully process what had happened until the 'thud' of the guy hitting the floor shook me out of it. I just sat there for a minute, staring at the guy's motionless body, relax - she didn't kill him - before I did what seemed appropriate at the time.

I started laughing.

I laughed long and hard. Laughed like I hadn't laughed in a good, long time, bending at the waist so far over that I damn near fell off my bar stool. Yang snorting, whether at me or the guy I'm not sure, reminded me that congratulations were in order. I pulled myself together enough to sit up straight and give her a big high five, both of us grinning like loons, before deciding what this situation really called for was more alcohol. I turned back towards Chris to let him know that we'd be taking another round of whatever free drinks he was willing to pour us, and that's really when the night started to go sideways. Because Chris?

He looked fucking mortified.

He stared straight past us to the asshole who'd been bothering us and was currently enjoying a Yang induced rest. His mouth worked up and down a few times in that way that lets you know that something is really bad, before he found his voice and confirmed it.

"Junior!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, eyes still glued to tall, dark, and douchey.

You ever sober up instantly? And I don't mean like you had a couple cups of coffee and took a quick shower, I mean you go from tipsy, or slightly more than tipsy, to stone cold sober in a second. I would tell you that that's impossible, I certainly thought it was, but in that moment life decided to teach me a different lesson. Cause I suddenly felt sober as hell.

"You need to go." I told Yang with a clarity that I didn't know I had in me at the moment. She blinked at me, then pointed at the guy on the floor.

"But he-"

_I_ grabbed her and shoved her towards the door, which in retrospect, probably wasn't the best idea given how it'd turned out for the last guy. "Yang, you can't fucking be here! Junior is going to flip his shit and your the last face he needs to see!" She bit her lip at that, gaze traveling back and forth between me and the guy she'd laid out she started to open her mouth to protest again and I cut her off. "I know it's not right, but you can be right later, now you need to be gone. We don't need this turning into another fight. Please, Yang." That last part always seems to work particularly well. I think it's because deep down, most people want to be good people and be helpful.

Less so me. I was being selfish. I was worried that if Junior banned Yang at this point, he'd ban all Beacon students, and I needed Jaune.

She finally nodded at that, rushing out, "Ok, call me if you need me!" before taking off towards the door, most of Junior's boys giving her a wide berth. Palov's dog and all that. The last bit of her golden mane had just cleared the door when Junior came thundering in.

"The hell is going on up here?" He demanded. Every hand in the room was suddenly pointing at me and the unconscious body at my feet. So much for honor among thieves. "Holy shit," he whispered.

I decided to use my patented Em charm to alleviate the situation. "Hey, Big Cat, I know-"

"Shut the fuck up!" He snapped, before pointing at Chris, who was half-hiding behind the bar. "You! What happened?"

Chris licked his lips and stuttered out, "T-the blonde girl came back."

"Which blonde girl? We have a ton of blonde girls-" Junior cut off as a look of horror crossed his face. "No," he whispered, before rounding on me. "You!" He growled.

"Junior, I-"

"You did this!" He accused, stuffing a fat finger in my face. "You invited that dumb bitch back in here!"

Minor note about me, I'm not a fan of yelling. I got right back in his face. "Don't call her a bitch! She was just sitting there minding her own goddamn business!"

"Sure doesn't look like it!" Junior roared back, gesturing towards the unconscious guy on the ground.

"He grabbed her ass!" I snapped.

"He grabbed her ass!?" He snorted. "Who the fuck cares!"

"I care!"

"Yeah? Well, I'm currently considering beating _your_ ass." He informed me. "Do you know how many girls-"

"What if it was the twins?" I challenged. His mouth snapped shut and he looked away. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"She's not the girls." He grumbled, the heat leaving his voice.

"Yeah? That make it any better?"

"Yes. No. I don't fucking know." He ran one of his giant ass paws down his face and groaned. "We're so fucked."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why? Cause she knocked out some random douche?"

"He wasn't some random douche, he was _our_ douche." He explained, which earned him a blank stare on my part. He swore and took a seat at the bar. "Em, you know what tonight is?"

"Uh, fight night, right?"

"Yeah, but do you know who for?" He asked, snatched the bottle of bourbon that Chris had been using from the bar and taking a long pull.

"I don't know. Rich people? Assholes? Rich assholes most likely."

He snorted at that. "Well, you're half right. They're assholes alright, but they ain't rich. Damn animals probably don't have enough coin for a VIP booth between them." He said, taking another swig.

"If they're faunus, I'm pretty sure that's racist, just gonna throw that out there. You don't-"

"It's the Fang, Em. The fucking Fang is who the fight night is for." I'm not really up on the ethics of calling a terrorist a slur, so that shut me right up. Well, that and the fact that some very dangerous people were about to flood our bar. I searched for some intelligent question to ask and came up with-

"Fucking why!?"

"I'll give you three guesses." He muttered into his bottle. It took me all of a second to think about it before the light bulb went off.

"Is this a fucking Roman thing!?" I half-shouted.

"Look at that, got it in one." He deadpanned.

"Motherfucker!" I yelled as I pushed away from the bar and started pacing.

"That's what I said." Junior comforted.

I cursed again before stopping and pointing at the guy. "What does that have to do with this asshole?"

"That asshole was supposed to be one of the fighters in the main event." Junior explained without turning around. "Our fighter in the main event."

"Oh shit."

"Yep."

I ran a hand down my face. "This is okay, we're still ok. So what if this guy was supposed to be in the main event? All we have to do is find another guy right?'

"Em-" Junior started.

"I mean, it can't be that hard, right?"

"Em-"

"Just gotta find another random douchebag that can't fight for shit. Gotta be a dime a dozen in this town. Hey, do you think any of the boys would be willing to take one for the-"

"Em!" Junior said, slamming the bottle he was nursing against the bar so hard it shattered. "Fuck," he hissed.

"Gods, Big Cat, overreact mu-"

"Shut up!" He snapped. "Making me waste good booze."

"I wouldn't call it good…"

"Shut up," he repeated. "Listen, we can't just replace the guy, ok?"

"Why not?"

"Because we're catering to a bunch of terrorists," he grumbled before running a hand down his face. "The guy he's fighting is supposed to be a monster, real wrath of the Dark God type fucker."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure he's-"

"He's got Aura, Em."

"Oh shit."

"Mmhmm," he hummed. "So, we need someone with Aura to fight him unless we want them to end up a smear along our floor." I opened up my mouth to offer up my brilliant idea, but he tossed a piece of glass at my head, so I decided to let him finish. "And we can't grab any of your dumbass Hunter student friends. People are betting on this fight, Em." He sighed and flicked a piece of glass off the bar. "_Faunus_ _supremacists_ are betting on this fight. They're not here to watch someone with a name and a competition record fight their boy, they're here to watch their boy crush a guy." He gestured to the unconscious douche. "So, yeah, that's why he's here...or wherever the fuck he is right now. Gods, but we're so fucked. They are going to murder us."

"Oh, so you just need a guy without a record at all but who somehow has Aura?"

He snorted. "Yeah, and while you're at it, find me a unicorn." His eyes widened when it hit him. "Em, don't you fucking dare!"

It was too late, my scroll was already ringing.

"Hey Jaune, I need a huge favor…"

* * *

"Why are we friends exactly?" Jaune asked, glaring at the hand that Junior was currently wrapping.

Junior tsked. "Cause one or both of you wants to fu-"

"Other to learn to fulfill their potential!" I finished for him, not at all in a hurry.

Jaune cocked an eyebrow. "Fulfill their potential?"

I grunted, "Listen, we're kind of screwed here, and it's kinda my fault."

"Whhaaaaa?" Jaune mocked.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, shocking, I know. I'm a real piece of shit. You should probably leave me on the street, you know, the place where your dad found-"

"Em," he cut me off, holding up a fully wrapped hand. "I'm in. Just...tell me about the guy again."

"You'll be fine, he's a-"

"Monster," Junior cut in, stopping and looking up at Jaune. "Kid, you sure you're ok with this?"

I tried not to look at Jaune like I was desperate for him to say yes. I feel like I was about half successful. He sighed and nodded. "Is it going to be worse if you tell me about him, or if you don't tell me about him?"

"If I don't tell you." Junior answered, finishing Jaune's right hand and reaching for his left. "You need to know what you're getting into. This guy is big, like stupid big."

"As big as you?" Jaune asked nervously as he gave Junior his other hand.

"Yeah, but not as pretty." The old crook joked before grunting again. "From what I've heard, he's big, but he's slow and sloppy. People get like that when they're used to being the bigger man. That's why we're going to stick and move. You got that, kid? Kid?" He looked up to see Jaune staring blankly ahead and grabbed him by the back of his head, locking eyes with him. "Kid, what are we going to do?" He asked slowly.

Jaune swallowed. "We're going to stick and move."

"That's right." Junior said, going back to wrapping. "And what are we going to do if he tries to push you back into the cage?"

"Circle out."

"Exactly. You do those two things and you'll be as good as gold." Junior comforted. I gotta admit, as gruff as Junior usually is, he can really switch on the supportive dad thing when the situation calls for it. Must because of the twins.

The crowd in the main room roared as the fight before ours ended in what I'm guessing was a particularly violent manner. Jaune shook his head. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Hey! Eyes here." Junior commanded, staring Jaune down. "You've got this. You want to know how I know you got this?" Jaune nodded dumbly. "Cause that one won't stop talking about how brave you are, how smart you are. Real goddamn genius to hear her tell it ," he said, nodding over to me. I tried, and probably failed spectacularly, not to blush when Jaune looked my way. Luckily, Junior slapped his hand as he finished wrapping it, drawing his attention back to the giant. "And here's the thing, kid, I don't even need you to be a genius. I need you to throw straight punches at this goon and move your feet. You think you can do that for me?"

Jaune cut a quick glance over in my direction before looking back at Junior. "Yeah, I can do that."

There was a knock at the door and a short man with a mustache cracked it open, nodding to Junior. The giant nodded back and squeezed Jaune's shoulder as he rose. "Fucking show me."

The crowd that filled the cleared out floor of the 'Red Room' may not have been the biggest I'd ever seen, but they sure as hell were competing to be the loudest. And the most handsy. As soon as we cleared the red curtain that separated the prep room to the main, a dozen hands were reaching out for Jaune, shouting some pretty creative anti-human slurs that I hadn't heard before. Luckily for us, Junior had a couple of the boys on crowd control. And by crowd control, I mean backhanding people a lot more aggressively than I probably would have suggested being in a room full of faunus terrorists. But hey, it kept them off Jaune, so I wasn't complaining. For his part, Junior was doing a miraculous job of somehow standing close enough to Jaune to calm him down without being close enough to look like he was protecting him, which he definitely was. The big softie.

Me? I was just trying to keep close to Jaune as the boys carved a path through the crowd towards the cage, standing tall on an elevated platform in the middle of the room, carrying the ice bucket Junior had handed to me before we stepped out. Well, that and answering the question of what it'd be like to have a mouthful of spiders for anyone that threw a beer at Jaune, which turned out to be about half the crowd. Soon enough though, we arrived at the edge of the cage where one of the boys started patting Jaune down and checking his wraps to make sure that we hadn't done anything to them. After what seemed like a far too brief inspection, he waved Jaune on and he climbed awkwardly up the stairs, pausing for a minute at the threshold before nodding to himself before walking in. Junior motion for me to follow him and led us around the edge of the cage to our corner.

"He's going to be ok, right?" I half-shouted above the crowd, the situation suddenly much more real as I watched Jaune walking around the cage.

Junior shot me a look. "I'm not in the business of making promises I can't keep, Em."

Oh fuck.

I snatched up his arm and spun him around. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"It means that it's a fight, and a rough one at that! I can't tell you what's going to happen in there!" He snapped, making me flinch back.

"But Jaune's a Huntsman-"

"-In training." He finished for me before really twisting the knife. "And there are people out there that kill Hunters, Em. There's a reason why they train against each other as well as Grimm in that school of theirs."

I swallowed. "What do we do?"

He shrugged. "The best we can do in this situation. Keep calm, don't let the kid get worked up, and leave the technical details to me. Got it?"

I nodded numbly, to which Junior grunted and motioned Jaune over to us. He walked over awkwardly and leaned against the cage. "When's the other guy come out?" He asked nervously.

"In a minute, but don't worry about that," Junior answered.

Jaune scowled, "how am I not supposed to-"

"Kid, listen-" Junior cut him off. "The only thing you need to worry about is listening to the sound of my voice while you're in there. That guy is going to come out here all hyped up because he's in front of his crew. He's going to be wild and nervous."

"Yeah? Well, I'm terrified." Jaune shot back.

Big Cat just shook his head. "Everybody is scared, kid. They just lie about it later. But we got something that they don't."

Jaune stared at him through the fence like a man desperate to believe. "Yeah?"

Junior nodded sagely. "We're the unknown. They think they know who they're fighting, but they don't. We're going to use that. They're going to come in here expecting a tomato can, but they're going to get a hard ass fight." He said with an amount of conviction that even I didn't currently feel. "You stay calm and you listen to me, and we'll show this asshole what's up. You with me, kid?" He finished, eyes locked onto Jaune's.

Jaune nodded weakly, "Yeah."

Junior snorted and slapped the cage. "I asked if you were with me!" He snapped.

"Yeah!" Jaune barked back, louder this time.

"That's more like it!" Junior nodded in approval and pointed towards the entrance opposite the one we'd come in. "Now turn around and watch him when he comes in. Stare him down the entire time. Let him know you're not afraid of him." I waited until Jaune had turned around before elbowing Big Cat in the side.

"Holy shit, you're really good at this!"

He hummed. "Yeah, well, didn't always used to own a club."

My eyes widened. "You were a fighter?"

"Old man was," he said. "You pick things up being a part of his corner."

I winced. "That sounds like it gets uncomfortable."

"You're about to find out how uncomfortable." He said, nodding towards the other entrance. "Game face on, here he comes."

If I had thought that the place had been loud when Jaune walked in, then it was deafening when his opponent cleared the thick curtains that separated the back room from the main. I felt my heart sink when he stepped into the spotlights that they had trained on his entrance. To say that the guy was big would be a massive understatement. Come to think of it, massive fit pretty damn well. He had to have at least a foot on Jaune, which was saying something, and looked like he was about twice as wide. Bulging muscles seemed to cover the guy from head to toe and led up to a scarred face that sported a scowl. The guy flexed his big ass muscles and roared at the crowd, which I would have mocked if I wasn't so busy shitting my pants.

"What the fuck kind of faunus is he, a Goliath?" I hissed at Junior.

"That's not a-"

"Fuck you! You know what I meant." I snapped. "How's Jaune supposed to beat that monster!?" I demanded in a whisper.

"Oh wow." Jaune whispered in awe. "Guys, are you seeing this guy?"

"You're going to do great!" I encouraged loudly, glaring at Junior.

"Em, I think this guy is on all the steroids. All of them. There aren't any left for anyone else." Jaune said before shaking his head. "He's going to murder me!"

I snatched Junior by the collar and pulled him down to my level. "Fix this," I growled. He sighed and knocked my hand away before leaning against the cage.

"Kid, you listening to me?" He asked in a voice a lot calmer than I felt.

"Uh-huh." Jaune mumbled, eyes glued to the giant making his way to the ring.

"If you're listening to me, then tell me why I told you we were going to be ok?"

"Is it because we're going to run away?"

The big guy snorted. "Smartass. If you can joke, then you can think. Yeah he's big, but you want to know what that says to me? Guy is sloppy, used to bullying people around. That's just fine, cause we're not the type to get bullied are we, kid?"

I felt that now would be a terrible time to bring up the fact that Jaune has a long history of bully issues, but to my surprise, that seemed to set something off in Jaune, cause he set his jaw and shook his head.

"No, no we're not." He said quietly, some of the tension leaving his shoulders despite the monster approaching. Whatever bad things I had to say about Pyrrha, whatever talk she and Jaune had seemed to take root, and for that I am thankful.

And maybe slightly jealous. Full disclosure and all that.

"Hell no we're not." Junior agreed, tapping on the edge of the cage. "Now, remember to watch this guy the whole time he's getting in the cage. Oh, and try not to flinch when he tries to get in your face. His type always do that shit."

"Got it." Jaune agreed, dutifully watching as the giant faunus got checked over at cage side. He yelled like a jackass again when he pushed the door of the cage open and immediately stomped over to Jaune, getting right in his face and yelling yet again.

Jaune did a lot better job than I would have at not flinching. It almost worked. Junior just rolled his eyes and mumbled. "What an asshole."

Junior is an ok guy in my book. Minus this whole not clarifying that Jaune was going to be fighting a Goliath business.

The ref apparently had had enough, because he came over and pulled the giant back to his side of the cage, or at least, made a spirited attempt till the big guy got bored and walked back there himself. Once he was there, a guy in a very sparkly suit climbed into the ring with a mic and started playing up the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for a brawl!? For blood!? For WAARRRRR!" He screamed into the mic. I raised an eyebrow at Junior, who just shrugged.

"People like this shit."

"It's lame. You're lame." I informed him.

"In this corner!" The sparkly man continued, spinning around theatrically to face the giant. "The pride of the faunus! The Colossus of Menagerie! The one, the only...BANESAAWWWW!"

As serious as the situation was. As worried as I was for Jaune, I couldn't help it. I fucking burst out laughing. To my relief, I heard Jaune snort and watched Junior smirk.

"Holy shit!" I snorted. "Really!?"

"I know right?" Junior chuckled, clearly glad that Jaune was getting loose. He looked down at me. "Wait, what did you put down as the kid's name?"

I froze. "Don't be mad," I pleaded.

"Em..." He growled.

"And in this corner!" The announcer sang as he spun. "The man brave enough to laugh in the face of the Colossus! A first timer under our roof! The mysterious JONNN XIONNNGGG!"

"Goddammit, Em!" Big Cat shouted.

"I had like five minutes to think of a name!" I argued.

"So you thought making him my illegitimate son was the way to go!?"

"Um, guys?" Jaune started.

"There are lots of Xiongs!"

"Guys?" Jaune said again.

"Name three!"

"Guys!" Jaune shouted.

"What!?" Junior and I shouted at the same time.

"I think we're about to start." Jaune answered, nodding towards the cage door being shut and the ref taking center stage.

"Shit." I offered helpfully. Junior was a bit more constructive.

"Ok, I want you to keep off the cage. Don't let yourself get pinned against the fence and throw straight punches. We've got this." He comforted again. "We're calm. We stay calm."

"Yeah." Jaune agreed quietly.

Then the bell rang. Ole Banesaw shot across the ring like he'd been fired out of a damn cannon, slamming into Jaune and throwing him back into the cage. He immediately started throwing giant hooks into Jaune's sides that sent his Aura flaring.

"Fuck!" Junior articulated, throwing himself against the cage. "Hands up, kid! Hands up! You just gotta hang in there."

That didn't seem like particularly complex or enlightening advice to me, but considering that I had even less to offer, I sat quietly with my thumb up my ass, watching my best friend take the beating of a lifetime. Jaune shelled up and pulled his elbows close to his head, getting rocked back and forth with each blow.

"Get off the cage!" Junior shouted. "Kid, you've got to move!"

If Jaune could hear him, then he didn't give any indication, staying balled up against the cage until a particularly fierce hook sent him stumbling and his Aura crackled. My heart raced as I started looking around for a towel to throw. That was a thing, I was almost sure.

"Circle! Hands up and circle!" Junior yelled at a deer legged Jaune, slamming his hands into the cage. "Get your feet back under you!"

Jaune tried his best to follow Junior's instructions, stumbling towards the center of the cage before fully righting himself. The giant lumbered after him, hands down by his side without any fear of anything coming back his way. He made a show of rotating his arm as he closed, staring a hole through Jaune and preparing to deliver the final blow.

I had fucking had enough.

I let my Semblance take hold and focused on the giant. When he roared and uncorked his big right hand, it sailed a full foot to the right of Jaune's head, leaving Banesaw confused and off balance.

"Now, kid! Hit him!" Junior shouted through the mesh of the cage. Light seemed to spark back in Jaune's for the first time since that monster had started wailing on him. He lunged forward with a right hand of his own that would have made Papa Arc proud, spinning Banesaw's head around and sending the titan stumbling backwards.

"Don't let up! Stay on him!" Junior demanded, sending a still shaky Jaune stumbling after the giant. The kick that he threw next would have made Papa Arc considerably less proud. I know because he wasn't a fan when I taught it to Jaune. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I'm not exactly up to date on underground fighting rules, Jaune's foot missed Banesaw's groin and slammed into the inside of his thigh, knocking that leg out from under him. The jab that Jaune caught him with after that landed pretty clean though.

The giant roared in frustration and started throwing back with big, winging punches that missed as often as they landed in a dumb fit of rage and bravado. Jaune, apparently not willing to be out dumbed, planted his head firmly in the center of the monster's chest and yelled as he continuously threw body shots into his sides, sending both their Auras into a sparkling light display.

It was ugly, it was not at all what either Papa Arc or I had taught him, but it kept him off the cage and away from the beating he'd been catching there, so I'd take it. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, banging on each other till the bell finally, mercifully, rang. Even then, it took the ref and more than a few of the boys to split them up as their Auras crackled and popped.

The crowd ate that shit up.

As one of the boys led a shaky Jaune back to our corner, I felt a giant hand grab my shoulder and spin me around.

"What was that shit!?" Junior hissed.

"What are you talking-"

"Don't fuck with me, Em, I saw that shit!" He snapped, putting a finger in my face. People really need to stop doing that. I tsked and knocked his hand away.

"So? We in the business of playing fair all of the sudden? Jaune needed help." I shot back.

"Yeah? Well we're all going to need help if anyone figures out your little magic trick and decides to tell the rest of this _White Fang_ crowd that we're cheating," he growled.

"Shit." I allowed.

"Yeah, shit." He agreed. "What's done is done, but stow that shit before you get us all fucking killed," he finished, turning to open the cage door and catch Jaune as he made it back to us. "You did great out there, kid. Showed that asshole what was up." He encouraged.

"Yeah, really showed him how well my face blocks punches." Jaune snarked as he collapsed onto the stool Junior slid under him just in time.

"None of that talk." Big Cat commanded, grabbing the back of Jaune's head and pressing his forehead into his. "You hurt that bastard, that's why he stopped throwing so goddamn hard."

"Still felt hard to me." Jaune panted, but I could see the words hit home.

"That's because we stopped moving. What's the plan, kid?" Junior asked as he fished a cold piece of metal out of the ice bucket he brought with him and pressed it against Jaune's face, making him flinch.

Jaune took a deep breath and let it out. "Don't get pinned against the cage and throw straight punches."

"Ata boy." Junior said, tilting a water bottle up for Jaune to drink out of. "And that's what we're going to do. He knows that you have power now, so he's going to come in slower."

Jaune swallowed and gasped. "What if he puts me on the cage-"

"He's not."

"But if he does?" Jaune pleaded.

Junior sighed. "If he does, then I want you to shell up a listen for the sound of my voice, nothing else. When I say 'now,' I want you to throw a right hook as hard as you fucking can."

"A hook?"

Big Cat nodded. "Yeah, but only when I say so. Doesn't matter if you don't see it, I do." He squeezed Jaune's shoulder. "You're going to have to trust me. Do you trust me?"

Jaune hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yeah."

"Then get on your feet, kid. I want this guy to see that you've still got something left in the tank." Junior said as he helped pull Jaune to his feet. I stood there quiet and useless as Junior passed me the stool and pushed me back towards that cage door when the ref shouted for the corners to leave.

"Don't let him put your back to that cage, kid! Now bounce! Show him you're ready!" Junior commanded again as he pulled the cage door shut. Jaune nodded and started gently bouncing up and down in place, locking glares with the giant standing across the cage. The ref took the center of the cage again and asked both fighters if they were ready before stepping back and shouting.

"Fight!"

I wasn't fucking ready. My heart was still trapped firmly somewhere in my throat after watching the last round. Thankfully, Jaune was apparently in better shape than I was, taking the center of the cage like Junior instructed and throwing clumsy, but straight, punches that kept a more cautious Banesaw at range.

They continued like that for the first few minutes of the round, Jaune flicking out punches that would occasionally crack the big, dumb brute on his already crooked nose and the giant throwing wide hooks that would slam into Jaune's forearms and push him around the ring till he got his feet back under him.

"He's doing good!" I whispered excitedly, tugging on Junior's sleeve. Big Cat just grunted and shook his head.

"He's being too predictable, this guy is going to catch on sooner rather than later."

Sure enough, Jaune's next jab missed the monster, as did the cross that followed it. My stomach started to twist in a knot again, and I dug my fingers into Junior's arm.

"Tell him to do something else then!" I demanded.

Big Cat shook his head again. "That kid is barely holding on to what I told him already. I try to give him more to think about and- shit! Kid, lookout!" He shouted, snapping my eyes back to the cage just in time to see Banesaw slip to the side of one of Jaune's jabs and come back with a punch that looked like it could have put a Beowolf down. It sent Jaune flying backwards into the cage right in front of us. I felt my heart sink when something hot and wet splattered on my face. It froze when I wiped it and looked at my hand.

It was covered in blood.

"He's out of Aura!" I screamed at Junior.

"I know." He hissed.

"Then fucking stop the fight!" I screeched as Banesaw lunged onto Jaune, slamming his cinder block sized fists into his forearms, sending blood spraying every time a blow snuck through.

"Not that kind of fight, Em!" He shouted back before pressing his face into the cage right next to Jaune's ear. "Hold on, kid! Hold on! Hands up!"

Jaune's body rocked back and forth as Banesaw punches left giant, angry welts wherever they landed with sickening _thuds_. I was told after the fact that I apparently started trying to scale the cage. I don't really remember that part. What I do remember is starting to get into a fist fight with Mil and Mel when they wouldn't let go of me when I was trying to get to Jaune. They kept trying to put something over my eyes so I couldn't use my Semblance to give Banesaw a good look at his own entrails. I was about to give them the same treatment when Junior's voice cut through the air.

"Now!"

My eyes snapped up to see Banesaw rearing back for the haymaker to end all haymakers. Jaune uncoiled like a spring, putting all his weight and power into a tight, quick hook that slammed into the giant's jaw. It was the loudest single punch that I've heard. It sounded like someone had clapped two pieces of wood together.

Banesaw fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

The bell apparently rang right after, but I doubt anyone on our side of the cage could hear it over how goddamn loud I was screaming. The rest of the arena was dead fucking silent. Jaune collapsed to his hands and knees as the ref rushed over to check on Banesaw's motionless form. I didn't wait for them to call it before I leapt the cage, and this time the twins were smart enough to stay the fuck out of my way. I couldn't have been held responsible for what I would have done to get to Jaune in that moment.

I dove for Jaune and pulled his battered form against me, somehow not fully processing that the fight was over and trying to shield him from the rest of the world.

"What happened?" He asked groggily as I squeezed him against my chest.

"What the fuck do you mean, 'what happened!?' You fucking won, you dork!" I shouted over the growing boos of the crowd, tears streaming down my face. Jaune took a second to hazily look around the ring, where beer bottles and trash were already starting to hail down and Junior's boys were fighting to keep people off the cage.

"I'm not saying this is racist, but...this feels kinda racist." He observed quietly.

I couldn't help it, I started laughing. It started as a snort, then turned into a giggle, then full on howling, wheezing laughter that didn't stop till long after the boys had cleared a path back to the locker rooms and drug us through the angry, violent Fang crowd.

A lot of people tried to grab at Jaune as we pushed through the crowd that night. A lot of people got to live out their worst nightmares.

* * *

**Memory Lane**

Training Jaune was a mission of mine from the instant that he told me he wanted to be a Hunter and Papa Arc told him no. Unfortunately, Papa Arc caught on pretty quick to what I was trying to do, and threatened to stop teaching _me_ if I kept teaching Jaune in the backyard.

Which of course meant that we weren't stopping, but we were going to have to relocate. Luckily, Jaune, giant nerd that he is, was pretty good friends with the local comic shop owner, who was surprisingly ok with children beating the hell out of each other behind his shop.

Well, usually pretty one way beatings.

"No, you have to keep your hands up." I told Jaune for roughly the hundredth time in the past five minutes, only to watch him raise them a good six inches above his head, like he was about to start doing the world's least enthusiastic wave.

"Like this?" He asked hesitantly.

"Sure, you try that and let me know how it works out." I encouraged.

He sighed. "You know, you could just tell me if it's wrong."

"I feel like I have told you. A dozen different times. I'm about to start telling you using morse code on your face and see if that takes."

I might have had some room to grow as a trainer.

He rolled his eyes, which is not something I highly suggest doing when your life is in my hands, and spat on the ground. "Just come on already."

I shot forward, flicking a jab into Jaune's still open face that made him yelp and cover up.

"See? Now you're getting it!" I said cheerily as I continued to dance around him, continuously peppering his forearms with blows.

"Great, now I can be a punching bag!" He growled, before throwing a sloppy hook that I slipped and countered, causing both of us to wince. Jaune because of the bruise that it'd surely leave, and me because I'd have to explain said bruise to Mama Arc.

"You can worry about offense when you can actually stop me from hitting you." I shot back, causing him to shell up again and start blocking shots with his forearms. "There you go! That'll help you keep that average face intact!" I encouraged, "but remember…" I kicked his lead leg out from under him, sending him to the ground in a heap, "...go low, go often."

He groaned from his spot on the ground, tiredly raising a hand to give me a one finger salute.

"Yeah, love you too, Jaune."

"Hate you. Hate you a lot." He muttered as he pushed himself up. "I hope that you-" He stopped short before he could finish giving me his well wishes, eyes locked on something at the entrance of the alley behind me.

"Hey, look at that, boys. They already started the beating without us. How considerate of them." An annoyingly familiar voice called. I fought to keep from groaning as I spun around.

"Hey there, Navy! What's up?" I asked in my best fake excited voice, reaching out and helping Jaune to his feet. It apparently wasn't very convincing, because neither him or the two goons he'd brought with him were smiling.

"You know damn well what's up." He growled. "Where's my goddamn truck?"

I shrugged innocently. "I don't know. Why are you asking me anyway?" I snapped my fingers and pointed at him. "You know who you should ask? Crystal. Bet she probably has some ideas on where it might be." He hissed through his teeth and took what I assumed was supposed to be a menacing step forward. "What's the matter? You guys not talking so much anymore? Well, that tends happen when you fuck around on someone."

His nostrils flared as he motioned his two dumbass friends forward. "You know, it's a good thing the Arcs have so many fucking kids. They won't miss a couple."

"I'm petrified." I muttered, before glancing over at Jaune. "You still want to work on offense?"

He nodded, eyes locked on Navy. "Very much so."

"Good, just remember-"

"Go low, go often." He finished for me, before shooting towards the older boy.

Gods, but I love the Arcs.

* * *

**Artillery**

**Thankfully, mercifully, our unit was pulled off the front line shortly after the horror that was our first battle. We were being moved back to support the artillery division that had been supporting us. I was shocked to find just how far away I could see those artillery pieces from. At first I'd assumed that they must have been closer to line than the crazed Captain Fan had told us. But then we kept marching, and marching, and marching. **

**And the artillery batteries kept growing larger, and larger, and larger, till they were towing over us like some kind of terrible titans that would cough out vile and heated vitriol at regular intervals, their giant muzzles pointed every which way. Crooc and I clapped our hands over our ears in vain as they roared once more.**

"**YOU KNOW WHAT THE REAL PROBLEM WITH BUMB-"**

**The sound trailed off as the shell started its terrible arc, going Gods know where. I shook my head to clear it and reached out a hand to grab Burk by the shoulder.**

"**Burk!" I shouted hoarsely. "What in the Gods name is-"**

"**EM AND MERC WOULD NEVER WORK BECAU-"**

"**What!?" He shouted back.**

"**What are they shooting at!?" I rushed out, before-**

"**IF YOU SUPPORT THAT SHIP, THEN YOU'RE PART OF THE-"**

**He shook his head. "They're not shooting at anything!"**

"**What!?"**

"**WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE JUST ACCEPT-"**

"**They don't fire at anything in particular!" He yelled into my ear. "They just load them up and fire!"**

**I stared at him, dumbfounded. "But why!? Surely there's no point in just trying to prove others wrong! If they're not hurting us, why-"**

"**WHITE KNIGHT GOES AGAINST EVERYTHING THAT THE SHOW-"**

**Burk opened his mouth to reply, but Captain Fan appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and pushed him aside, eyes wild.**

"**Because we have to let those dirty bastards know they're wrong, you fool! How else will they accept us as the true ship?"**

"**Sir, I don't think it works that-"**

"**I DON'T GET HOW PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND-"**

**The piece nearest to us spoke, the shockwave of it forcing my eyes closed and knocking me to the ground. By the time I'd open them again, Captain Fan was nowhere to be found.**


	9. Punch Drunk

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

**Brought to you by the editing powers of Cr00cy and Ehbon**

**Side note: It's been way too long and I apologize. I could make a ton of excuses, but shit got busy and I got distracted. I'll try to be more consistent moving forward.**

**I'm also looking for someone to beta read if they're interested.**

**In other news, won my fight by TKO, which was cool. Anywho, I give you:**

**Punch Drunk**

* * *

_Hey, I know we've covered this already, but as it turns out - I've got regrets. Quite a few of them actually._

_Some of those involve Jaune, some of those involve me, some involve Big Cat, and some involve...really just about every person I know._

_But hey, you're the one listening to this shit, so you get to hear about them._

_One of my bigger regrets is that I kept assuming we were at the end of things getting worse every time we managed to pull something off. _

_As it turns out, the rabbit hole of shittiness had a lot further to go._

* * *

"How bad was it?" I asked as I watched Junior wipe down a very obviously spotless bar, which I'd come to accept as a nervous tick of his.

He sighed and shook his head. "It was bad. I thought we were going to have a full blown riot on our hands. Probably would have if we hadn't gotten Jaune out of sight so fast."

I winced. "Really?"

He nodded and picked up a glass, holding it up to the light. "Might have still gone south if their boss hadn't shown up and forced everybody out. He didn't seem like the type you want to fuck with."

"Mister scary, huh? What'd he do, start yelling real loud or something? " I teased, before putting on a mock stern voice. "'This kind of behavior is unacceptable! We're terrorists, but gambling is a step too far'"

He hummed as he considered the glass. "No, he was real quiet. His shotgun, on the other hand, was quite loud."

"Oh shit." I articulated, suddenly sitting up a bit straighter.

"Pretty much." He agreed as he apparently decided that the glass wasn't clean enough and started cleaning it out all over again.

"How'd Roman take it all?" I asked, which earned me a snort.

"Loved it. Said it was high time someone knocked 'those animals' down a few pegs."

"Not the most progressive guy, Roman."

"You think?"

"What's his deal anyway?"

Junior shrugged. "Maybe he grew up poor and had to hate someone, maybe he took a beating from the Fang one day when he was still small time, maybe he's just an asshole." He hummed as he wiped the glass out once more. "Take your pick."

"I feel pretty strongly about option three." I offered.

He smirked. "Well, you certainly aren't alone in that opinion."

This was good, I needed Big Cat happy. In fact, I'd been sitting at the bar all morning trying to get him in a good enough mood that I could ask my big favor. I just needed one more big push, and I knew just where to go.

"So, how'd we make out?"

Junior's smirk grew into a full on grin as he sat the glass down and leaned on the bar.

"Like bandits. Every single one of those Fang loons put money down against our boy. The house did _very _well last night."

Got'em.

"Our boy, huh?" I asked with a smirk of my own. Big Cat coughed and pushed back from the bar.

"Jaune's a good kid. You should take notes." He said, awkwardly.

I nodded. "I agree. Well, on that first part at least. I was actually going to ask you about something, what with Jaune being such a good kid and all…"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Em?"

"Nothing big, I just wanna invite Jaune and his friends over for a party." I said casually, not quite managing to make eye contact.

He groaned. "Em, I've told you before, we're not running a daycare."

"Unless we're talking about Mil and Mel." I countered.

"Unless we're talking about Mil and Mel." He agreed, before his brow knit together. "By the way, did you ever apologize to them? You got pretty crazy during the fig-"

"I bought them each a bottle of whatever they wanted and paid for Mel to get her hair fixed." I said, slumping in my seat. "Did you know your girls have expensive taste?"

"Yes, I do." He said tiredly, shaking his head. "But good on you, that'll go a long way with them. They understand getting rowdy, just weren't expecting it from you."

"I get excitable when Jaune's involved." I mumbled.

"Ain't that the truth." He muttered.

"What was that?"

"You know what I said." He shot back, but without any real venom. He ran a hand down his face and sighed. "Look, the kid did us a real solid back there. If you want to do something small, and I do mean small!" He emphasized when I practically hopped off my stool. "Then I guess we can do something for him and his team."

I squealed and leaned across the bar, pulling him into a hug. "You're the best, Big Cat!" He tutted as he bopped me on the nose with his wash rag.

"Get off me, brat." He scolded, not bothering to move away. "Just remember to-"

"Keep it small!" I finished for him. "Got it. Only Jaune, his team, and Ruby's team."

"Hey, we didn't say anything about those girls!" He snapped. "I don't want that bar wrecking bit-" A knock at the door of the bar, the currently closed bar, cut him off. He cocked his head to the side and stared at the door in confusion, then his eyes lit up with understanding. "Oh goddammit, Em, if that's-"

"Em?" Jaune's called from the door. "Can we go ahead and come in?"

"We brought food!" Yang's cheery voice added in.

"Hate you. Hate you so much." Junior hissed.

"Love you too, Big Cat." I said, slowly backing away from the bar. "Soooo...should I let them in?"

He rubbed his temples and cursed, then pointed at me. "We're not done with this conversation, you hear me?"

"Yes, dad." I said as I fought to keep from rolling my eyes. "I'm not hearing a no though…"

"Let your dumbass friends in." He said as he threw his rag on the bar in defeat. "But you lot aren't getting anything but what's on tap or the well, you hear me?"

"You're a saint, Big Cat."

"And don't you fucking forget it."

I grinned and turned back towards the door. "Ok, guys, you can all come in now!"

Jaune pushed open the door sheepishly, peeking his head inside like the polite young man Mama Arc raised him to be when confronted with a 'closed' sign. Then Yang practically kicked the door open, a giant grin on her face, and pushed him inside with the rest of their two teams in tow.

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I like that girl.

If the stream of curses that left Junior's mouth as soon as he laid eyes on her were any indication, he was less of a fan.

"Easy, Big Cat, we're all friends here." I soothed. "Nobody is starting anything, right guys?" I asked, staring directly at Yang. She just shrugged and nodded.

"So long as nobody is trying to grab my ass, we should be good."

"Excellent news, we're a grab ass free bar!" I said excitedly.

"Sure we are. Try telling that to the regular crowd around here." Junior grumbled.

"We're a non-consensual grab ass free bar!" I corrected with a grin, earning smirks from Yang, Blake, and Nora, as well as a blush from Pyrrha. What a prude.

"Why are we here again?" Little miss Schnee asked with a huff from her place beside Ruby.

"You know, I was just asking myself the same quest-"

"Em, be nice." Jaune warned. What he saw in that girl I'll never know, but I owed him big, so I did something very unnatural for me. I kept my big mouth shut.

"I invited you because Jaune did us a really big solid here at the bar, and we decided to throw him a bit of a party-"

"Did we though?" Junior grumbled.

"A party that we decided to invite you all to, since you're all Jaune's friends." I stared Whitey down. "Otherwise, we'd have to tell you to get the fuck out." She made a face at that, but after a quick glance over at Ruby, who was practically vibrating with excitement, apparently decided it wasn't worth it.

Well, can't win 'em all.

"Sooo, why don't we kick things off?" I continued, rubbing my hands together. "Everyone grab a bottle of your favorite-"

"Hold up." Junior cut in, looking over the crowd. "Show of hands, how many of you are underaged?" He grunted when almost all the hands in the room shot up, with the notable exception of Jaune's team for some reason. "Drinking age in Vale is 21." He explained, nodding when the rest of the hands shot up. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Apparently, Junior had decided to play hardball after all. I was less than impressed.

"Really, Big Cat?"

"Not my name."

"This is the hill you want to die on? Underaged drinking?"

"Hey, I run a bar." He shot back. "I can't be bending the rules for all your little friends."

"And Mel and Mil?"

"Like I said, all your little friends."

I rolled my eyes, "You realize that you're the biggest hypocrite in all of Remnant, right?"

He huffed. "I'm just concerned about corrupting the innocent."

"Didn't seem that concerned about it the other night. Seemed like you wanted to have a personal hand in it then." Yang muttered behind me.

It took a minute for that to fully process, but then my eyes widened as my head whipped back to the giant. "Big Cat, you didn't."

He coughed and played with his collar. "Well...you see...I, uh-"

I held up a hand to stop him. "Look, Junior, just save whatever weakass excuse you're about to give us for...whatever you tried to pull. I don't really want the details. Point is, I think that we're all willing to give you a 'get out of creeper-jail free' card if you just do the right thing...serve us alcohol."

Little miss Schnee balked. "I am willing to do no such thi-"

"Agreed." Yang cut in.

Weiss gasped. "Yang, how could-"

"You can drink what we have on tap." Junior allowed, tiredly. "One of the boys will-"

"I want one of those fancy drinks that Em had the other night." Yang countered, walking forward and leaning against the bar.

Junior huffed. "I'm not your personal bartender."

She cocked an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure you're our personal whatever we want, Big Guy." She grinned as she pressed in close. "Of course, we could always run the other night back if you really feel that strongly about it."

"Or I call a few of Vale's finest to kick you all the hell out of my club." He countered.

She snorted "Yeah, sure. Can't imagine what else they might find poking around this place. Like downstairs maybe?"

"Yeah? Well can you imagine that maybe not all of the cops in Vale are the fine, upstanding citizens that you think they are? That maybe a few of them are getting more than one paycheck?" He asked, staring her down.

"Huh, guess I wasn't that off in how I handled the situation the other night then. Kinda feeling like I was doing the city a public service. Maybe I'm in the mood to put in a few more hours of community service. You know, take out the trash and such." She finished, pushing off the bar and slowly backing away, giving herself space.

This wasn't at all the way I wanted this to go. We already had Junior agreeing to let us throw the party, I didn't need Yang to try to rub it in his face too. I mean, I get it. I'm not the most forgiving person either, but her grudge was about to fuck this up for us, so I decided to step in.

Oh, and preventing senseless violence and all that jazz, I guess.

I was about halfway between Junior and her when I heard one of the most ridiculous-ass statements I could have imagined for such a high stakes situation.

"I'll make them." All eyes snapped over to Jaune, who shuffled sheepishly in place, suddenly having a hard time making eye contact.

"You'll make them?" Big Cat asked, clearly more than a little skeptical. "Jaune, I wouldn't trust you to make a rum and coke."

Jaune huffed like a particularly insulted puppy. "Easy, half rum and half coke."

We all stared at him for a moment, just really trying to adsorb the creature that was Jaune. Junior broke first, snorting then letting out one of those big, booming laughs giants like him do.

"Kid, that either makes you the worst or best bartender I've ever heard of, depending on what side of the counter you're on." He grinned as he leaned on the bar. "I'd fire your ass in a day, but you'd probably get a number or two out of it."

I've got to admit, Jaune standing there, mouth working up and down wordlessly as he tried to figure out if he was insulted or embarrassed was a sight that almost made me forgive Big Cat for being an, allegedly, giant creeper and almost starting a fight with Yang. Almost, but not quite. What he did next pushed me over the edge.

The big guy reached over the counter and slapped Jaune on the arm.

"Get back here, you mook. How am I supposed to let you go around without knowing your way around a bar?" He asked, shaking his head as Jaune awkwardly made his way to the other side of the bar. "What are you going to do when that special lady asks you to make her her favorite drink, huh?"

"It's a Strawberry Sunrise, just in case you're wondering." Yang offered helpfully, plopping herself down on one of the dark stools. Junior eyeballed her for a quick moment before grunting.

"Thought you wanted an Old Fashioned?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Is that what we were drinking the other night?"

"Yeah."

"Then that's what I want." She chirped happily.

Yang easily has more balls than any guy I've ever seen. It is both impressive and fucking terrifying. I waited for the fight to start all over again.

Surprisingly, Big Cat hummed and bumped Jaune with his elbow, nearly bowling the poor boy over. "Well, you heard the lady."

Jaune pointed at himself. "Me?"

"Yeah, you." The giant replied.

"But I don't know how to make that." Jaune replied, confused.

"Then I guess it's time you learned, huh?" Big Cat shot back, pushing a glass into the blond's hands. And just like that, the spell was broken, and the threat of impending violence fled the room. The gang made their way to the bar and found seats, breaking out the snacks they'd brought - which Junior pretended to care about dirtying up his bar for all of five minutes before letting it go.

For my part, I found a seat between Yang, to ensure that a riot didn't suddenly break out in the bar, and Nora, because...yeah, pretty much the same reason now that I think about it. We made a game out of shouting the most absurd drink orders that we could think of at Jaune and Junior, which started off pretty well - never knew that I liked 'Dark and Stormys' - but judging from the looks Junior started giving us, I'm guessing started to fall apart after an hour and a few drinks.

For instance, I'm both 90% sure that a 'Banana Sunrise' isn't a real drink, and if it was, it wouldn't be brown and bubbly and taste suspiciously like well rum and coke. However, being the magnanimous goddess that I am, I decided to let such small discrepancies slip. Luckily, so did Yang.

Besides, we had a Nora to tease.

"So, you trying to get Ren to take you home tonight?" I asked, totally not starting to slur my words.

"He does every night." The pinkette replied with a grin. "We live in the same dorm."

"Kinky." I shot back with a wink.

She hummed. "Less so than you'd think."

"I can help you fix that." I offered, because I'm a bastion of sound romantic advice and help.

She cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah? How you gonna manage that?"

"Psssh. Me and Yang can distract Jaune for a while. Easy peasy." I said, watching the blond in question try to make whatever the hell a 'Vesper' was for Weiss across the bar.

The other blonde in the equation looked up from her almost certainly not a Strawberry Sunrise. "Wait, what am I being volunteered for?"

"Don't worry about it." I assured her before turning back to Nora. "So? What do you say? Gonna get you some of that androgynous goodness?"

She snorted. "I think you're forgetting about someone."

I tsked. "Jaune will be on board."

"I meant Pyrrha. She's still pretty sore about Jaune coming back roughed up the other night by the way."

I winced at that. "Yeah, about that. I'm sorry. I-"

She cut me off with a wave. "I get it. You don't think Renny and I have taken a few bumps and bruises over the years for each other? I actually have a pretty wicked scar you might get to see if I get a few more of these in me. Point is, as far as Renny and I are concerned, your business is your business as long as Jaune's on board and comes back mostly intact. The free booze helps too."

"Notice you left Pyrrha out of that little 'we're cool' speech."

"Yup!" She chuckled, taking another sip of her drink. "Turns out she didn't have a lot of friends growing up, gets real protective of them."

Two things happened then that I wasn't a huge fan of. The first was the sudden wave of understanding and sympathy for Pyrrha that I in no way asked for or wanted. The second was the knowing look that Nora was giving me, letting me know I wasn't the only one to spot the parallel.

"Don't even." I growled.

She smirked and shrugged. "Just saying, you're gonna have a hard time shaking her."

I tsked. "We'll be fine. Yang told me she's willing to take one for the team."

"I'm fucking what?" The brawler balked.

"Relaxxxxxx." I soothed, "I just said you would keep her busy. Why, what were you thinking about?" I asked, scooching my stool a little closer to hers and wrapping an arm around her as I whispered into her ear. "Was it something naughty?"

Yang had the decency to turn the appropriate level of red I hoped she would before sputtering and choking on her drink. Nora cackled beside me, downing the rest of her beer before pushing her glass over to Big Cat to refill.

"Yeah, what about you?" She asked as the giant passed her a dark-ass beer back.

"What about me?"

"You gonna close the deal with Fearless Leader if I say yes?"

"I don't know what deal we're talking about."

"Suuurrrreeee. I bet you don't." She grinned as she took another pull.

I huffed and let go of an embarrassed Yang. "Nora, are you suggesting that I want to be...what do you call it?"

"Together together?"

"Together together with one Jaune Arc?" I finished.

"Oh, I'm not suggesting it," she replied. " I'm declaring it."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah? Do I strike you as the kinda girl that doesn't get what she wants?"

"Yup." She replied, making sure to pop the 'P'.

"Then I think you don't know me that well." I shot back.

"I think I know you all too well." She smiled sadly as she swirled the contents of her glass.

I threw back the remains of my...whatever I was drinking, before slamming the glass down on the bar harder than absolutely necessary. "How's that?"

"You're me."

"I'm you?" I asked, waving at Junior for a refill. He strangely found other places to look than in my direction.

"Yeah, I think so." She replied, leaning on the bar and pushing her beer away.

"Why's that?"

"Cause I think you're a coward."

You ever have that moment where fun drinky time becomes sad, introspective drinky time? It's always a bummer Imagine that, but it's Nora - the happiest human you know - bringing you down. It's super disappointing.

"Awwww, fuck. Nora, really?" I groaned.

She shrugged. "Just calling it like I see it."

"And how is it that's how you see it?" I asked.

She sighed tiredly. "You have what you want right in front of you, but you're too afraid to say anything because the answer could always be 'no.' Worse yet, just asking risks what you already have, and you would die before doing that."

I ran a hand down my face before turning to Yang, hoping that she'd help me talk some sense into Nora. Unfortunately, she was pretty caught up in trying to look everywhere but at us. Fucking blondes.

"You know what I think?" I asked, turning back to Nora.

"What's that?"

"You're a sad drunk."

She grinned and shrugged playfully. "Maybe. Either way, you've got bigger problems."

"Why's that?"

"Pyrrha's on her way over." She answered, gesturing towards the mop of red hair stumbling her way across the bar. "Annnddd she doesn't look particularly happy...or sober."

"I've got this." I answered.

Nora snorted, which I'll admit, didn't fill me with confidence. "Ok."

The tall, lean, toned amazon struck a pose in front me as she arrived, placing her hand on her hip and leaning in. It would have been a little bit more impressive if she hadn't tripped over herself while doing so, but I got the general idea that I was supposed to be intimidated.

"I needa talk wit U," she articulated.

"Yeah?" I asked, swiveling my stool so I was facing her and leaning against the bar. I didn't think miss Invincible Girl was the type to take a cheap shot, but you never know.

"Yea!" She agreed with a hiccup.

"And what do we need to talk about, Red?" I was vaguely aware that antagonizing this woman was a bad idea. Maybe it was my intuition, maybe it was the knowledge of her extensive competition record, maybe it was Jaune waving at me frantically from the background. We'll never really know I guess. We only know that that's exactly what I was committed to doing.

"Jaune!" She barked back.

"Oh, you mean the guy that I've spent my entire life looking after? Yeah, tell me about him, Red."

"You got him hurt!" She accused. I'll admit, that hurt more than I wanted it to, mostly because it was true. But if there's one rule of shit talking, it's that you never let that shit show.

"I got him into a fight," I countered. "That's what hurt him."

"Because of your shitty training!" The accusation rang long across the bar, causing all conversation to stop. I pushed away from the bar and got in little miss perfect's face.

"The fuck did you say to me?" I hissed.

"I said, you couldn't train a fighter if your life depended on it, much less Jaune's." She whispered back.

"Then why did he win the fight, Nikos?"

"Because one of us knows what we're doing." She said, giving me a pretty decent glare before dropping her bomb so low that only I could hear. "And has Jaune's best interests at heart."

"Step onto the fucking floor, bitch." I offered, motioning towards the dance floor.

I want you to know that nature comes with a variety of warning signs. For snakes, it's that little rattle that they do. For fish, it's the wild ass colors that they come in. For Pyrrhas, it's apparently a small, knowing smile - and suddenly walking a whole lot straighter than you were before.

If I'm being honest, Big Cat breaking out his scroll to film the whole thing probably should have been a hint too, but none of these stopped me from stepping out onto the makeshift arena with one Pyrrha Nikos.

Why? Because I was fucking pissed. I was pissed at Jaune for being partnered with this dumb bitch. I was really pissed at her for thinking she could fucking come in here and talk to me that way. But most of all? I was pissed at myself, because that shit about Jaune's best interest felt a lot more accurate than I wanted it to at the moment.

And there wasn't a goddamn thing in the world that was going to stop me from stepping out there and taking out that anger on this slut.

I'd like to tell you that the whole thing was pretty even, that I held my own against a pretty tipsy Invincible Girl, that I gave her a run for her money. Hell, I wish I could just give you an account of the way she moved, her toned muscles stretching and pulling as she jumped into action, both impossibly fast and impossibly graceful and measured at the same time. How she seemed to make a drunken bar fight an art form for all of a few moments.

But, I can only tell you what I experienced.

Bitch was fast. She was real fast. She also hit pretty fucking hard and from weird, impossible angles.

I slowly regaining consciousness sometime later along the wall of Big Cat's bar, supported by cushions that had been ripped from the backs of the various couches that populated the bar. It was to a roaring headache and the sound of familiar, if unwelcome, voices.

"This is crazy, Roman."

"Don't I fucking know it?" The gangster's grating tone replied. "But it's what she's asking me."

"Then tell her no." A firm answer came.

I remember hearing a deep sigh. "You willing to do that?"

I didn't know exactly who 'her' was, but if she was the same her that had made Roman and I go and 'handle' Bane, then I didn't want anything more to do with her. If the long silence that followed was any indication, then neither did Junior. I decided to keep my mouth, and eyes, shut for the time being.

"Yeah, thought not. Listen, Junior, big things are happening here, maybe…" I got the distinct impression that Roman was taking a long drag of something, "maybe you should just get out of here. Just for a while, huh?"

I'd only known Big Cat for a little while and I could have told him how well that shit would go over.

"This is my bar, Roman, my town. I'm not going anywhere." Came the growled response.

"Yeah, thought you'd say that." Came the tired reply. "Look, this is what's happening. She's found a way to get a hold of a goddamn tank and she's handing it over to the Fang."

What the fuck?

I felt my heart skip a beat as my mind raced considering the possibility. The woman Roman feared enough to kill one of his own friends for arming people insane enough to square off against the might of the Atlesian military. I silently begged for Junior to say something, anything, to stop this madness.

"They're fucking terrorists, Roman. Fanatics. They're going to kill people with that shit, people outside the game."

I could have leapt off the floor and kissed the big doof.

"Yeah, I know." Roman replied glumly. "But tell me what we're going to do about it? I ask again, you going to be the one to tell her no?"

Silence answered him, and I felt my heart start to sink once more.

"Ok then, have your boys report to dock number seven."

No.

"They better not-"

"I'll keep them out of it as much as I can." The gangster promised. "I just need them to help set the stage."

No. No. No. Big Cat wasn't going to let this happen, was he?

A heard a deep, tired, sigh. "What the fuck, Roman?"

"I know, man, I know." The voice answered as I heard a stool push back from the bar. "Shit is crazy, but this is the world we live in."

"You promise to take care of the boys?"

Oh gods, he was. If my heart had been sinking before, it had suddenly found the bottom of the ocean. I started to sweat, fighting to keep my body still as the panic started to set in.

"I promise to try." He answered as he made his way to the door.

I waited a few minutes after I heard the door close and I heard the sounds of Junior shuffling around behind the bar, clinking glasses together as he cleaned up for the night, before I decided to start trying to get up. An involuntary groan escaped my lips as I pushed myself upright.

"Look at that, sleeping average joins the world of the living once more." Junior snarked from behind the bar.

I stared at the giant wide-eyed as a half dozen questions died on my lips, still trying to process what I'd just heard...and the nonplussed expression on his face.

"You ok, Em?" He asked, his mouth turning downward with concern. Somehow that made it all the worse.

"Why?" I asked dumbly, still too shocked to do anything else.

He raised an eyebrow. "Wow, she really did a number on you, huh?"

I blinked in confusion, which prompted him to continue.

"Not many people dumb enough to try to take on the Invincible Girl. Don't know if you're dumb or just that head over heels for our boy."

"Jaune!" I squeaked involuntarily, suddenly aware of the lifeline Junior had thrown me by misinterpreting my question. Oh gods, I'd never needed to speak to anyone as badly as I needed to Jaune right now.

He shook his head and chuckled. "Guess that answers that question, huh?" He frowned again when I didn't rise to bait. "Em, you sure-"

I looked around the room in a panic. "Where'd he-"

"Chill." He commanded, holding up a massive hand. "Kid stayed with you as long as he could." He snorted, "Truth be told, I had to kick him out before the last shuttle to Beacon took off."

"Last shuttle?" I asked blearily, glancing at the darkness outside the front windows and suddenly realizing just how late it was.

"Yeah, you were out for a while. Kid was real worried about it. To be fair, that Pyrrha girl looked pretty broken up about it too. Don't think she meant to hit you that hard." He sighed. "Anyway, Jaune wouldn't leave until I promised that I'd get you to call him as soon as you woke up." He nodded towards my scroll, laying on the bar in front of him.

I shakily rose to my feet and walked over, reaching out hesitantly for the device and begging my hand not to shake as my fingers closed around it. My heart almost leapt out of my chest when a massive paw closed around mine.

"Hey," Junior started, apparently unaware of the heart attack he was giving me. "I know you two like to chat the night away, but you need to get some rest and Beacon classes start pretty damn early. Make sure you don't stay up too late, huh?"

I swallowed and fought to keep from freaking the fuck out. "Yeah...sure thing, Big Cat."

"Good," he nodded and released my hand, pushing back off the bar with a sigh. "Well, I'm going to head up for the night. Floor's yours, Em. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Never!" I croaked, earning another concerned look from the giant before he shook his head and started for the stairs. I barely had the self-control to wait for his back to disappear around the bend before I was dialing.

"Jaune! Yeah, I'm fine! Listen, I need your help!"

* * *

Memory Lane

I wish I could tell you that I've always stood on my own and all that shit, but truth be told? I've always run to Jaune as soon as the going got rough.

Take for instance the case of one Ms. Burgundy, who was very convinced that I'd cheated on her final exam...which I had, but that's besides the point. The point was that I couldn't afford to fail another class without getting expelled. While I'm sure that I knew at some intellectual level that that wouldn't keep me out of the Arc home, the deep, deep down Em was terrified that getting kicked out of school would mean that she wasn't good enough. That the people that had spent years of their lives raising and supporting her would suddenly cast her aside.

Hey, I'm not saying that it was reasonable, I'm just saying it's what I felt.

What was worse was that I had no real good way to lie about what had happened. Rather than use and abuse my Semblance like I should, I liked to try to keep it under wraps as much as I can, I tried to swipe the answer sheet right off Ms. Burgundy's desk using good old fashioned slight of hand.

Unfortunately, there were a few things that I didn't take into account. The first being that Ms. Burgundy was less distracted by my cute and bubbly schoolgirl routine than her male coworkers. I'll admit, that one is on me. The other thing I didn't account for, which I claim no responsibility for, is that she apparently spent a decent portion of her youth working as a dealer in a Mistralean casino, and was _very _used to bullshit like what I'd pulled when I swiped the answer sheet off her desk.

How the fuck was I supposed to guess that?

Jaune claims that she had mentioned it a few times in class, but hey, if I was paying that close attention I wouldn't need to cheat, would I?

Point of the story is, Ms. Burgundy was not someone to be fucked with. She waited till we'd all finished taking the exam, then called me up to the front of the class and declared - correctly - that I'd cheated and that she was going to have me expelled. I thought about trying to use my Semblance on her to make her see something other than her answer sheet in my backpack, but I got the distinct feeling that she wasn't going to believe anything that came out of my mouth - not that I blame her. So, I did the only thing a panicked Em knows how to do.

"Jaune!" I had no idea what I wanted to happen honestly, it just kinda slipped out. Ms. Burgundy seemed similarly confused, because her brow knit together as she scowled at me.

"Jaune? What about Jaune?" She asked.

Yeah, what about Jaune?

To my shock however, I heard the sound of a mental chair scraping against the floor, and turning back towards the class, saw one each Jaune Arc standing up next to his desk.

"It was me, Ms. B." He stated with a level of confidence I wasn't even sure I would have had talking that much out my ass. Ms. Burgundy cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"What was you, dear?"

"I'm the one that cheated."

At this point, I had no idea where the fuck Jaune was going with any of this, so I just stood dumbfounded at the front of the room as Ms. Burgundy verbalized what I was thinking.

"What?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You see, Ms. B, my Semblance is illusions."

The fuck?

"What I mean to say is that I can make people see things that aren't there, or make them see them differently." He explained. When she still stared at him blankly, he sighed again and continued. "I made you see Em, but I was the one that took the answer sheet."

Ms. Burgundy just shook her head. "Jaune, you've never shown such a talent before, I have a hard time believing you possess such a powerful Semblance and keep it under wraps."

Hey, I'm a careful girl...most of the time.

"I know it can be hard to believe, Ms. B, but watch - I'll do it now." Together we stared at a Jaune standing in the middle of the class, arms spread wide and a look of concentration on his face.

"I don't see anything, Jaune." She said after a minute.

He coughed, embarrassed. "Sorry about that, sometimes I get nervous." He explained, staring daggers at me.

Oh shit! This was my part! I whipped my gaze around to Ms. Burgundy, concentrating on her as hard as I ever had on anything. A moment later, she gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

"My word! That's incredible!"

"Thanks, Ms. B." Jaune replied sheepishly.

"But Jaune, you have an A in my class, why would you steal the answers?" She asked, clearly hurt. And wasn't that a damn good question?

Jaune sighed and shrugged. "I wanted to have the highest grade. I guess I just let my competitive side get the better of me." Said the boy that hadn't so much as dreamed of joining a sports team for his entire school career.

It was a dumb lie. It was a dumb story. There were a dozen holes in it.

But you know what? It worked.

And that's the story of how we both ended up in remedial geometry.

I don't even know why I brought this up. I guess maybe what I'm trying to say is...Jaune's always been my hero, Huntsmen academy in the sky or no.

* * *

**Strange Bedfellows**

**As we left behind the deafening roars of the artillery and marched back to the trenches, I felt my heart sink and begun looking about for Crooc, that we might make an escape from this madness together. My panic did not go unnoticed, and Light chuckled tiredly beside me.**

"**Relax, we're not heading back to the front just yet."**

**I let out a breath that I didn't know I'd been holding and asked. "Where are we bound for then?"**

**He nodded towards a set of forts a few miles away from the thick of the fighting, their hastily thrown together walls looking as apt to fall on their own as to crumble under enemy fire.**

"**We're going to meet up with the Arctic Monkeys brigade up ahead. They've agreed to help us take on the White Knights."**

"**Why would they do that?" **

**He shrugged. "Because they're bigger than either us alone, and we both hate the idea of half our pairing being somewhere else I suppose."**

"**And that's it?" I asked, incredulous.**

"'**Fraid so, my friend."**

"**But that doesn't make any sense!" I cried. "We're fighting together because someone else is happy!"**

**He turned my words over in his head for a moment, before asking. "And what would you suggest?"**

**I gestured towards the forts in the distance, both in shambles. "Why not build up what we love?"**

**He just shook his head and laughed. "That'll never happen."**

**I opened my mouth to retort, but Captain Fan's shouts for us to double time drowned them out.**

**A moment later and we were rushing towards the war once more.**


	10. Plan Girl Two, Electric Boogaloo

**CHAPTER NINE:**

**Plan Girl Two, Electric Boogaloo**

**What's that? Consistency in posting?**

**Don't expect that shit to last.**

**Thanks as always to my boy Cr00cy and Paulternative for readability.**

**My lady and dogs are finally at the new house, so life is good despite not being able to roll and spar like I want to. Hope everyone is staying safe.**

* * *

_You ever start to get in over your head, and for whatever reason you just can't stop yourself from digging, even though you know you should probably throw away the shovel?_

_Yeah, at this point I feel like my life story has been kinda like that, except instead of throwing away the shovel, I went and found an excavator to help keep digging._

_Speaking of which, one of those would be pretty handy right now._

* * *

To say that I really didn't have a plan when I called Jaune would be something of an understatement. An understatement in the same way that saying that Grimm could occasionally be off-putting was an understatement. This was first pointed out to me when Jaune uttered the immortal words:

"We should call the police."

"No!" had left my mouth before I even knew why. Old habits die hard, I guess. It was only a second later that the reason hit me. "Jaune, they'll trace that shit back to Junior, to me."

I listened to him repeat a few of the more inventive curses that I'd taught him over the years and patiently waited for him to finish ranting.

"Besides, this is the Fang that we're talking about, they'll tear Vale PD up if they try to go up against them," I offered.

"Yeah, but what about the teachers here at Beacon?" he argued.

"Sure, as long as you want them asking how you know about a mob deal going down, go ahead."

He proceeded to utter the other half of curses that I'd taught him.

"Maybe-" he swallowed, "maybe I can ask my-" he shook his head. "No, I can't put them in that position."

I was simultaneously grateful, because I'm a selfish bitch and that scenario probably ended with me in cuffs one way or the other, and disappointed, because who didn't want the Invincible Girl backing them up?

Gods but that hurt to admit.

"What about Ruby?" I tried, knowing the girl wasn't above a little bit of vigilante work.

He shook his head. "No, they're all wrapped up in something with Blake and Weiss, haven't seen them in a minute."

"Huh, imagine that. Little miss-"

"Em!" He cut me off with a glare.

"Sorry, force of habit." I said, slumping down against the wall I was resting against.

"Ok, so then what do we do?" he asked.

Wasn't that the million lien question? Truth be told, I didn't have a good answer...unfortunately, I did have a crazy one. One that had been tapping at the back of my brain since we'd started talking. I licked my lips and stared down into the scroll.

"I...I think that we should steal it."

To call the look that Jaune was giving me as unamused would have also been a massive understatement.

"You want to what?"

"If we steal it, then they won't be able to use it for whatever they're planning." I argued.

"And what are they planning, Em? Better yet, what is it?" Jaune shot back in a tone that I wasn't in love with.

"It's like...a tank thing!"

He ran a hand down his face. "Em, what does that even mean!? What does it look like? Where are we going to find it?"

"Dock number seven!" I defended, finally glad to have something to latch onto.

"Em, do you have any idea where on the dock or when it's going to be there?" he asked, unimpressed.

"Listen, you leave that part to me," I defended, "I'll get the info out of one of Junior's boys."

"Gods, we're screwed," he moaned.

I tell you, some people just aren't willing to work with you.

"Jaune, this is important!"

"Don't you think I know that!?" he snapped, before sinking back onto his dorm bed. "Em, I don't know if I can do this."

Begging isn't something I normally like to resort to, got enough of that on the streets of Mistral. But right now, I needed Jaune. Needed him to be there in ways I couldn't even begin to explain.

"Please, Jaune, I need you." I pleaded. "They're going to hurt people. A lot of people," I finished in a whisper. I waited for what felt like an eternity as he sat with his head buried in his hands.

"Ok," he said finally, "what do you need me to do?"

Didn't that make me feel like shit?

"I'm sorry, Jaune, I just-" I started, my voice catching.

"It's ok, Em, I know," he comforted, which made me feel even worse. "This is fucked. You know that, right?"

"I know. I just-" I bit my lip and shook my head. "Can you be ready to head down here tomorrow night? I'll figure out the when and where, but I need someone to have my back."

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll figure something out." He looked at something off screen for a moment, then glanced back at me. "Listen, Em, I gotta go."

"Yeah, ok. I'll call you," I said weakly.

"I'll be there," he promised, sitting up and reaching for the 'off' button

"Jaune!" I half-yelped.

"Yeah?"

"Love you," I whispered.

He smiled softly. "Love you too."

The feed cut off and I was left alone in the darkness of the bar. I'd like to tell you that I didn't have a good, long, cry before heading back upstairs to figure out how the fuck I was going to prevent a massacre without getting my best friend killed, but…

I promised I wouldn't lie to you.

* * *

My eyes popped open of their own accord far too early the next morning. I knew it was too early, because there was no light coming in from the small window in my tiny ass room on the top floor of Junior's bar. That might not sound like a big deal for some people out there, but with the hours I was working down in the casino I hadn't seen a sunrise in a while.

My other, even more obvious, clue was that I hadn't been woken up by the sounds of Mil and Mel fighting over who was going to get to use their shared bathroom first. Like they did every. Single. Morning.

I turned onto my side and flicked my scroll on, sighing when I saw the soul-crushing numbers 05:00 staring back at me. I rolled around for a bit, trying to fall back asleep, before I gave it up and sat up. I wasn't going to get back to sleep for the same reason I hadn't been able to get any real sleep in the first place.

I didn't have a plan.

I had no idea how I was going to find out where exactly on dock seven this trade was going to go down, who all besides Roman and Junior's boys were going to be there, or when it was even going to take place. I groaned into my hands and thought about texting Jaune again for a minute before deciding that I should at least try to do something productive first. I pushed myself up off the bed and walked to the bathroom, performing my normal morning ritual before pulling on a pair of pajama pants and a tank top. Not the most professional attire for someone trying to stop a terrorist attack I'll grant you, but it was way too early and the bar wouldn't be open for hours. Besides, it's better than Jaune's weird onesies.

I stumbled downstairs, still feeling groggy and depressed, but hunger drove me towards the bar. Junior keeps these chocolate croissant things behind the counter for employees that are a little slice of microwavable heaven. All you gotta do is put them in for about-

I froze when I heard someone shuffling around the bar, my hand dropping to my hip for my non-existent weapon. I don't know if someone has come up with an expression yet about wearing pajamas to a gunfight, but I'd highly recommend avoiding it if you can. I slowly made my way down the rest of the stairs, careful to avoid the one that I'd learned from experience squeaked a little too loudly. When I reached the bottom, I peaked my head around the corner, trying to figure out who was robbing us before I raised the alarm.

Good thing I did too, because it was fucking Chris. Good ole, always in Junior's shadow, drink mixing, not an asshole and kinda cute Chris. Dude was just sitting there behind the counter, silently counting bottles and shuffling through receipts with a calculator. I let out a sigh of relief and started to step out from behind the corner before a little voice in the back of my head told me to stop for a second. I glanced back around the corner and really took in what Chris was doing.

He was balancing the books. He was balancing Junior's books. That meant that Big Cat had to trust him enough to think he was ok with money...and maybe other things too.

A plan started to swirl around in my head. A crazy, risky plan, but the only plan I actually had. I closed my eyes and concentrated as hard as I could on every stupid detail of the big lug's face. His judging eyes, his ugly fucking beard, the way the side of his mouth would curl up involuntarily when he was proud of you but didn't want to say anything. I let out a slow breath and stepped out, staring Chris down. By the time he heard me walking towards him, all he could see was-

"Oh, morning, boss. You're up early."

I grunted a Junior grunt. "Can't sleep."

Chris nodded sympathetically, "You too, huh?"

I sighed as I took a seat at the bar, careful to fabricate the sound of the stool straining under Junior's weight for Chris. "Yeah, it's always like this."

"Really?" Chris asked, eyes wide with a hope that hurt my heart. I pushed that feeling deep, deep down and pressed on.

"Yeah, I'm not sure that it's something that you ever get over," I mused, before nodding towards him. "What about you?"

He coughed and looked away. "I'm doing fine, boss."

I raised a big, bushy eyebrow. "Chris."

He sighed and slumped against the counter, knocking the various receipts he was looking over aside. "Can I be real with you, boss?"

I could tell that he wanted nothing more in the world, so I said, "I ever ask you to be anything but?"

He smiled and shook his head. "No, but this is different. I-" he bit his lip and winced. "I'm having doubts, boss."

"We all have them," I said in a booming voice, "tell me about it."

"I just-" he swallowed, "I get it, you know? I get the position we're in, but these people…" he trailed off, looking toward the door of the bar.

"They're the worst," I offered.

"Hell yeah they are!" he exclaimed, snapping back to me. "Boss, we're not just stealing this time. These people-" he licked his lips before continuing. "They're going to hurt people. They're going to hurt people that aren't in this. It's just...I don't know"

This is where I decided to go fully off the rails and just decided to give my best guess at who Junior was as a person. I nodded and said, "You want to know the truth?"

"Yeah!" he begged.

"I feel the same way every time we do something like this." He slumped for a moment and I pressed on. "You know what that means?"

"What's that, boss?"

I grunted. "Means you're normal, not some sociopath like that Neo bitch." That earned me a chuckle, which made my heart soar for some reason. I placed an oversized paw on his shoulder and squeezed. "Listen, times like these...you gotta do what you gotta do to survive. Accusing a man of wrong in times like these, it'd be like asking a starving man why he stole."

Chris watched me for a moment, then gave a small nod. "Yeah, that makes sense, boss," he whispered, lowering his head.

"You want to take your mind off it?" I asked, desperate to lift some of the burden off him in the same way I wish someone had been able to for me...while still selfishly digging for information. "Just tell me what you're supposed to do, step by step. Walk through it. Make it a process, not a feeling."

I gotta admit, as far as bullshit advice goes, that's probably my greatest work. Chris seemed to think so too, because he nodded to himself like that made sense and leaned on the bar with a sigh.

"Well, luckily I don't have to do too much. I'm supposed to get some of the hard boys together tonight-" he glanced up at me, "I've got those names picked out by the way."

"I figured you would," I lied. "You do good work."

He smiled weakly at the compliment and continued. "We're going to meet up and drive over at ten, getting there no later than half past. I let the boys out and they make sure that the docks are clear and we're good to start. Roman's supposed to get there at eleven with…" he scowled for a moment, clearly thinking. "The codes or whatever starts that shit up."

I fought every fiber of my being to keep from asking what 'that shit' was and nodded. "Good, what next?"

He pushed back from the bar and snorted. "The shit show begins. They're supposed to show up around midnight and Roman is going to give some big speech." He rolled his eyes at that, which earned him points as far as I was concerned. "Then they take the damn thing and we peace out before the body count starts." He frowned at the last bit. "Sorry, boss, I-"

"Don't worry about it. I get it," I assured him.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, boss. I think that helped. I just-" he shook his head again. "Fuck, you get it. Could you…could you not let the rest of the boys know that we had this talk?" he pleaded. "You know how rep gets in here."

I put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, which I swear to this day that I'm not sure how it made me feel, and nodded. "What conversation?"

He grinned and I watched the tension drain out of his body. "Thanks, boss. You're the best."

"Chris, I'm just trying to do the best I can," I said, uttering my first true statement for the day before I slapped the bar and pushed off. "Well, you got things here? I'm gonna walk around."

"Sure thing, boss," he agreed, shooting me a thumbs up before his head ducked down again, re-organizing the receipts he'd knocked aside. I started back towards stairs, fully intent on waking Jaune up from whatever the fuck he was doing and filling him in on the details. I made it about halfway up when I ran into a bleary-eyed Junior, who took about five years off my life at least.

"Em?" he started, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "The hell you doing up so early?"

"I, uh." I coughed. "I'm just having trouble sleeping, you know?"

He looked at me for a moment before nodding. "Well, I prefer that to you feeling sleepy, given the concussion and all."

I tilted my head. "You think I have a concussion?"

He snorted. "Oh, you definitely have a concussion. You should have seen the way she-" he shook his head and laid a hand on my shoulder, which I fought to keep from flinching under. "Listen, just take the day, huh? We'll make out in the casino one way or the other and one night without you isn't going to kill us."

"You sure?" I asked, because I know how to look a gift horse in the mouth. Thankfully, he chuckled and hummed.

"You think this is the first time I've lost one of my girls for a day because she made poor choices?"

I'll let you let that 'one of my girls' bit sink in for a minute like I had to before I gave him my shittiest smile and said. "Thanks, Big Cat, you're the best."

He chuckled. "Now I know you're not feeling like yourself. Rest up, Em. I don't want to see you 'til tomorrow, ok?"

"Kay." I agreed weakly, before slipping past him and racing up the rest of the stairs. I made a beeline for my room and slammed the door behind me. When I pulled out my scroll, I stared at it long and hard before flicking it to life and dialing the familiar number

"Hey, you awake?"

* * *

There's a lot to consider when you're planning a heist. You wanna know things like - how many people are going to be there, are there cameras, what are your escape routes if something goes south. You know…

All things I didn't fucking know.

There's not a ton that gives me anxiety, besides Jaune telling me 'he's got this,' but that's one of them. Which is why I'd show up to dock number eight, hours before sunset, and had been stalking about like a serial killer while trying to get a good look at dock seven, which had enough security running around to make me think that a lot of it had to be private. Quite a lot of it.

Fun fact, if you don't have binoculars to see something super far away, you can use the zoom function on your scroll to...look like a fucking idiot while you still can't see anything. Our agreement on full disclosure requires that I tell you that I found out nothing of use during my hours creeping around the docks. I just got super hungry and bored. To the point where I started to text Jaune to pick me up some food on his way over, it was getting dark after-

"Em, isn't this the wrong dock?"

"Motherfucker!" I shrieked, jumping about a foot and grabbing for my pistol before I rounded and saw Jaune, holding a grease stained paper bag and looking down at me with a confused expression.

"Uh, Em?"

"How'd you know I was here?" I demanded.

He raised an eyebrow. "You texted me an hour ago? Asked if I could pick you up some food on the way over and sent me a pin."

Apparently, staking out a place for too long could mess with your sense of time...or hunger. I decided to salvage what dignity I could and snatched the bag from Jaune's hands. After some brief digging around I came back up with the larger of the two burritos I found within.

Before you start, mine is always bigger - heh- because Jaune never asks for anything extra on his and I ask for everything on mine. I looked back up at him as I passed him the bag.

"Did you ask for-"

"The hot salsa. Yes, Em, I did. It's almost like I've done it for you a few hundred times." He rolled his eyes, which might have pissed me off more if I wasn't already an oversized mouthful into my burrito. He sighed as he plopped down next to me. "But this is the wrong dock, right?"

"Iz da ight 'ock for ow." I explained in hungry person.

"You, uh, want to run that by me again? Maybe in something approaching intelligible?" He asked, unwrapping his burrito.

I swallowed and stuck out my tongue. "I said, we're on the right dock for now. I'm scouting out the dock we're going to."

"How's that going?"

I looked away and took another bite of my dinner.

"That well, huh? Well good, wouldn't want stealing a-" He cocked his head to the side. "What exactly was it again?"

"A tank or something," I mumbled.

"Great. Super. Wouldn't want stealing one of those to be too easy, now would we?" he snarked, which I might have felt a little more argumentative about if not for the fact that he was, you know...helping me steal a tank.

"But we've got burritos," I joked weakly. My heart lifted when I saw the corner of his mouth twitch upwards.

"Yeah, we've got burritos," he agreed tiredly. "Do we happen to have a plan to go along with those burritos?"

"Yeah, we do," I half-lied. I pointed over to the dock, a giant structure of concrete and steel sitting above the calm waters of Vale's harbor, stacked to the brim with metal shipping containers. "You see the main entrance there? The one by the road?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that one is a no go. Too much security around running checks on what's coming in and out. I probably wouldn't be able to use my Semblance on them all," I explained. "And, that's assuming that they're normal port security and not some of Junior's boys." I almost said 'our boys,' which for sure would have been the start of a fight.

He nodded. "Makes sense. So, where do you want to try to come in from?"

"There." I gestured towards the middle of the dock, where two massive cargo ships floated, a massive crane slowly unloading them. "There's a lot of security on either end of the dock, watching the cargo come in or out, but once they start unloading them they seem to ignore them for the most part."

See? I was productive.

"Yeah, but how are we going to get over there?" he asked, treading all over my moment with his questions that I didn't have a good answer for.

"I was thinking that we could, uh- you know…" I stalled.

He groaned. "Em, you want to steal one of the patrol boats, don't you?"

Huh?

"I, uh-"

"I mean, I get it," he said, running a hand down his face.

I'm glad one of us did.

"Hell, they're right there," he continued, waving towards a trio of patrol boats tied up down the dock from us, owners nowhere in sight. "We just wait it out for a while and then jump in one once it gets dark. People will be either too far away to see anything but the boat or have to get close enough that you can use your Semblance."

I stared at him for a moment in awe, soaking in the monster I had created before his voice snapped me out of it.

"-m? Em, you listening? Is that your plan?" he asked, giving me an odd look.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, totally the plan!" I laughed nervously. "Really starting to rub off on you, Jauney."

He mouthed 'Jauney' in confusion before deciding that I was just being weird and shaking his head. "Ok, so what do we do once we're in?"

This one I felt a little more comfortable with. "I'm going to need you to be my second set of eyes. I can do my illusion thing, but I'm going to need you to help me spot anyone sneaking up on us while we're sneaking our way to the package," I explained, deciding to start calling the tank 'the package,' since that seemed less prone to upsetting Jaune again.

"I've got your back." He promised, which did a strange mix of warmth and guilt related things to my heart. Then he ruined it by asking another good question. "Which one is the package?"

We stared at each other for a bit and I watched as his look of expectation slowly turned to one of horror.

"Oh, Em, please don't tell me-"

"I've got it narrowed down!" I defended, making him let out a sigh of relief.

"Ok, had me worried. So, is there like two or three that you think it could be?"

I coughed. "Maybe a few more than that." I shrunk into myself as I watched his face harden.

"How narrowed down do we have it, Em?"

I winced. "I figure it's got to be one of the ones with security around it?"

"Goddammit, Em!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry, ok! None of them came labeled 'Big Bad Super Weapon!" I shot back.

"Do you even know where on the dock we're supposed to be looking?" he asked, glaring me down.

I huffed and muttered, "No."

"Cool. Awesome," he growled, throwing his hands in the air. "Now all we gotta do is check every single container on the dock that looks like it might be tank sized before this drug deal goes down. Easy."

"Technically I think it's just an arms deal," I offered helpfully.

"Gee, thanks, Em. Now I feel a whole lot better," he said sarcastically, flopping onto his back and groaning. "Do you have anything else?"

"No," I mumbled, feeling like a real pile of shit and realizing just how terrible of an idea this all was. I pulled my knees into my chest and wrapped my arms around them. "Look, Jaune, you should go back to Beacon. I shouldn't have called you. I just-" My voice started cracking "you're my best friend, you know? And I- I got scared-"

"Em-" he started, before I cut him off with my rambling.

"They're going to hurt people, Jaune. I-I didn't know what to do, and I know it doesn't make sense, but all I could think about was calling you. Because-" I choked back a sob.

"Em," he whispered, sitting up and wrapping an arm around me. He squeezed me gently, which was more than I felt like I deserved, and I let out one of those weird laugh-cries that people do.

"B-because you're plan girl. You're always plan girl, and I know that's not- "

"Em," he said again, more a command than anything, grabbing my chin and tilting my head up towards him. "We'll figure this out. We always do."

I sniffed and let out a very unpretty laugh. "I think this is a little different than stealing comics and trying to hotwire Navy's car, Jaune."

He gave me a small smile. "Is it wrong that the part that still scares me the most is mom finding out?"

I snorted. "I dunno, Mama Arc is a bad woman."

"Yeah, she is," He agreed with a chuckle, scooting closer to me and letting me lay my head on his shoulder.

"What are we gonna do?" I asked, staring out at the dock across the way.

"I don't know, Em. I guess we just get over there and do the best we can," he replied.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Careful now, you're starting to sound like Pyrrha," He joked.

"Jerk," I shot back, flicking him in the arm.

It had been a while since I'd cuddled up to Jaune like this, and I'd forgotten just how good of a security blanket he could be when he set his mind to it. We sat that way for I don't know how long, watching the giant crane take container after container off the two cargo ships in front of us as the sun set. It was almost mesmerizing, the way it would come down like some giant, mechanical Grimm, latching onto a container and lifting high into the air before turning and placing it into a stack. It seemed random at first, but after a while I started to notice that it was stacking them according to the markings along the side of the containers. This one was from Vacuo, that one was from Mistral, the crests of both nations emblazoned on the-

Holy shit!

I hopped up so fast that I made myself dizzy and I'm pretty sure that I nearly gave Jaune a heart attack.

"What the hell, Em!" He shouted indignantly.

"Jaune!" I half-shouted, reeling around and grabbing the poor, confused boy by his shoulders and shaking him excitedly. "I figured it out!"

"You figured what out?"

"I figured out where the container is, you dummy!"

His eyes widened at that. "Where!? How!?"

I spun around and pointed proudly. "Watch the crane."

He stared out at it for a few moments before giving me a look that said he worried for my mental health. "Em, you sure you're-"

"Don't you see it?" I demanded. He looked back and forth between me and the crane for a minute before starting again slowly.

"Yep...it's a crane alright."

"Thanks, asshole," I growled. "Do you see what it's carrying?"

"Containers?"

"From where?"

"Vacuo."

"How do you figure?" I asked, trying to be more patient than I felt. He cocked his head to the side.

"Uh, cause of the emblem," he answered, pointing towards the container. I nodded excitedly.

"And where's it going?"

He looked back to the dock. "Right next to all the other stuff from Vacuo, on this side of the dock."

"Yep." I almost sang. "And where do you think a tank might come from?"

He hummed. "Not Vacuo, that's for sure. Probably not Mistral either, they don't have a bunch of mecha. It's got to be Atl-" I watched as the pieces fell into place for him and he shot up. "Holy shit! We just have to figure out where all the Atlas cargo is!"

"Yup!"

"Then look for the one that's being guarded the most closely!"

"Yup!" I cried again, laughing. "What do you have to say about those X-ray and Vav detective skills?"

He grinned back. "I say that you might be plan girl afterall."

* * *

Memory Lane

I don't know how or why Jaune became so weirdly good at inadvertently coming up with criminal schemes, but it wasn't my doing.

I couldn't scheme my way out of a paper bag.

But Jaune? That boy just seems to come up with that shit off hand. Don't believe me? Well, let me tell you a little story about how he helped me get tickets to the Weiss Schnee concert that I'd been dying to see.

A couple of things to understand. First, that hurts on multiple levels to admit. Second, Weiss Schnee does not come cheap. We were talking about a nice down payment on a car kinda money, which I of course didn't have. So, I did what came most naturally to me in my quest for cash.

I started stealing shit. I stole shit from our classmates, I stole shit from our teachers, I stole shit from our neighbors. Before long, I had a nice little stockpile of watches, scrolls, and jewelry. Sounds like I was well on my way, right?

Wrong.

Turns out pawn shops have this cool little thing they do where they check with the police to see if someone has reported what you're trying to hawk as stolen. I found this little gem of info out by almost getting arrested doing just that. If I hadn't used my Semblance to make the guy behind the counter see a different ring than the one he was calling the station about at the last minute, then promptly left, I probably would've added a few pages to my record.

All of which left me in something of a bind. A bind that I was currently distracting myself from by listening to Jaune tell me about the gossip at school while laying down on my bed and playing X-ray and Vav on someone else's scroll. Hey, mine never would have been able to run that shit.

"I think Crystal is dating Indigo," Jaune said, sitting on the floor and leaning against the bed.

"Ugh, that douche? Wait, I thought she was dating Red?"

"She is."

I snorted. "Damn, your sister simultaneously has the most game and worst taste I've ever seen."

He chuckled. "Yeah, pretty much." We sat in silence for a minute, and I was pretty close to clearing the level I was on when Jaune dropped his bomb. "So...I hear someone's been stealing stuff at-"

"Wasn't me," I said, way too fast.

"I didn't even say where, Em."

"Still wasn't me," I defended. We were kinda at an impasse here, because if Jaune kept pressuring me, I'd crack. I always did and he knew it. Instead, he decided to surprise me.

"Ok."

"What?" I asked, nearly dropping the scroll.

He shrugged. "I believe you. You said it wasn't you and I trust you."

I scowled as I sat up and looked down at Jaune. This seemed awfully like some of that reverse psychology bullshit I'd learned the Arc family loved.

"And that's it?" I asked.

"Yeah, what else is there?" he shot back. "Unless…"

Here it was.

"Unless what?"

He hummed. "You could probably help those people, Em."

"But I didn't take their things," I clarified.

"No, but you are good at taking things," he said.

"So?"

"So, I bet you'd know how to track them down better than most people would. You know, what with your experience and all." He shrugged. "I bet most people would pay you too. I've already seen a couple of reward flyers posted around the school."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "No shit?

"No shit."

A few days later 'Emerald, Private Investigator' was open for business, helping people find their lost goods and even providing tips on how to keep a hold of their shit in the future...just because I'm nice like that.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of how Jaune taught me how to fleece stolen merch...right back to the people I'd stolen it from. To this day he says that he believes me when I say I didn't steal that stuff in the first place, which is almost certainly a lie, but…

It's also the reason I love him enough to make sure that I had enough money to take us both to that fucking concert.

* * *

**Alliances**

**The Arctic Monkeys turned out not to be so different from ourselves, their torn and tattered uniforms in a similar state of disarray, their weapons caked with the same sticky mud that clung to everything. Their faces wore the same weary expressions as our own. They waited patiently for us in the shadow of a broken and shoddy fort, a man in a cloak and a cap - who I took to be their commander - stepped forward as we approached. To my shock and horror, I saw that he had the same face as our own officer.**

**"Captain Fan," the man greeted.**

**"Captain Atic," his twin replied with a nod.**

**The two men walked forward in mirrored step and clasp hands with manic grins.**

**"It is a good day to war."**

**"It is always a good day to war."**

**Then, with that and no other preamble, they turned to us as one and yelled.**

**"Forward! Forward to the line! Drive the bastards from the field!"**

**It was as if we were caught up in a spell, our feet carrying us forward in a great tide, all rushing to be the first to reach the front. We whooped and hollered, though I can remember no joy being in my heart. We flew by the broken fort, past the reserve lines and trenches, straight to the cratered and scarred battlefield.**

**The White Knights awaited us there.**

**I could tell you a dozen things about them that I noticed, like their gleaming arms, their clean uniforms and flowing banners, or the mass of cannon they carried with them. But what struck me first?**

**Their army dwarfed ours.**


	11. Metal Gear Em

**Lifted Chapter 10:**

**Metal Gear Em**

**It's been way too long, but here we are.**

**Cr00cy and I are both alive and powering on slowly but surely.**

* * *

_I think people get confused about fear._

_I think a lot of people think it's just something that you can up and overcome, but that's never been my experience._

_Fear isn't just something that's up and gone. Fear sticks with you._

_Fear of losing your life, fear of losing everything you've built, fear of losing the people you love._

_That kind of fear will change you._

_I know it changed us._

* * *

I'd love to tell you about our harrowing adventures to claim the Vale PD patrol boat and sneak across the harbor to ninja our way onto dock 7, barely avoiding detection and certain death at every turn, but...that actually turned out to be the easiest shit I'd done in awhile.

Turns out that VPD isn't as vigilant as the recruitment ads would have you believe. Hell, I'm not even sure if we'd have had to wait until nightfall to steal the boat. We just kinda walked over and jumped in. Sure, there was the brief learning period where Jaune almost rammed it into the other docked patrol boats as we figured out how the throttle worked, we got the hang of it pretty fast. From there, we just puttered our way over to the other dock without someone so much as looking our way.

Now the next part? That turned out to be significantly more challenging. We parked in between the two huge cargo ships we'd watched being unloaded, now empty and abandoned, and hopped onto dock - peeking around the sides of the massive ships before making a beeline over to the nearest tower of cargo containers. From there we started making our way from massive pile of steel to massive pile of steel on our way over to what we hoped was the Atlesian side of the docks while avoiding security patrols.

Which took much, much longer than I expected. Mostly because we had to freeze every couple of seconds to try to hide from whatever sounds mine or Jaune's overactive imaginations thought we heard. We eventually settled into a rhythm of making a semi-straight line over until we'd hear, or thought we heard, something, then doubling back and taking a more roundabout way around whatever it was. Unfortunately, that started eating into our timeline with a quickness. I glanced down at my scroll after shielding it with my body and cursed.

"What?" Jaune whispered.

"It's almost ten." I whispered back.

"What time is this thing supposed to happen?"

"Eleven."

He shrugged. "We still have an hour."

"Yeah, but I'd like to get there _before_ the majority of Vale's most wanted and their extremist friends."

He winced. "Good point. What do you want to do?"

Wasn't that a good question? Jaune was just full of those today. I chewed on my lip as we hugged the side of the container we'd hidden behind, a sinking feeling that I knew the answer, and that the answer sucked, growing.

"We've gotta move faster," I said finally.

"No duh," Jaune offered helpfully. "How do you intend to do that?"

"Just follow me and I'll show you, smartass," I snapped back.

"What the hell does- Em!" Jaune hissed as I took off, staying low and tight to the container wall. I moved as quickly as I could as quietly as I could, no longer jumping at every cricket chirp and car backfiring, desperately hoping that I'd catch sight of someone before the caught sight of me. I stopped short of an open area in the maze of containers, taking a moment to peak out and check the clearing while Jaune caught up. Once I heard him breathing heavily behind me, I set my feet and started forward, ready to be in and out the open area as quickly as possible.

At least, until Jaune nearly gave me whiplash grabbing me by the shoulder and dragging me back behind the container. I whipped around, ready to give him a piece of my mind before he placed a hand over my mouth and pointed. I decided to put my issues with Jaune's manhandling tendencies on hold and followed his finger upward to a man in a dark suit standing on top of a tower on the steel boxes, looking out over the dock and speaking quietly into a radio.

"Ready to show me?" Jaune whispered in my ear, clearly still a little irritated by our little jog. I took a deep breath and stared up at the man, letting my Semblance slowly take hold. This is where things took a little finesse. I couldn't just make him see someone running around like we had back at the SDC facility, or he'd call down more security, and while he looked like he might be with Junior, I couldn't be certain enough to make Junior's voice come over the radio he was holding and tell him to move on. Instead, I decided to go with a more subtle approach, slowly making the sound of static come over the radio.

He reacted like most people do when technology stops working, namely, holding it out in front of his face and staring at it real hard like that was going to fix it. Then he started slapping it, clearly convinced that the engineers that had designed it had forgotten a good ole dose of blunt force trauma. He cursed, flicked the radio on and off a few times, which was hard to keep up with by the way, then cursed again before finally starting to climb down from the pile of containers. Once he was out of sight, I let out a sigh of relief and turned back to Jaune.

"You ready?" I asked, somehow keeping from gloating at his impressed face. He nodded back and we slowly entered the clearing, looking around at the multiple corridors in the steel maze that we could take before Jaune pulled on my arm and pointed towards a tower of containers in the distance to our left, the sigil of Atlas proudly stamped on the side.

"That looks like us," he said.

"Yeah," I agreed quietly, before starting off towards the tower at a jog. It didn't take us long to figure out that we'd picked the right path, as we heard voices bouncing off the steel walls ahead of us. I slowed to a crawl and hugged tight to the side of the container nearest to us as we edged close enough to see who it was.

Junior's boys, roughly a half dozen of them from the look of it, all wandering around the edges of what looked to be a very large, but otherwise unremarkable shipping container, quietly bullshitting. Too many of them for us to make this happen by force quietly, so I waited and listened, either hoping to hear something useful or for them to fan out enough that we might be able to pick a few off.

"Fuck, it's cold!" The tallest one, who I thought I'd see around the casino once or twice, complained.

"Yeah, the docks get that way. Sea breeze coming in and all that," the guy next to him commiserated.

"Then why we gotta do this at the docks?"

"Cause that's where the cargo comes in, dumbass. You wanna try to cart this thing all over Vale?"

"Fair," the taller one admitted. "But why's it always gotta be at like midnight or something, smart guy? Answer me that. It's not like midnight is when it gets dark."

His smaller friend shrugged. "People like the dramatic effect? Fuck if I know, man."

"Some ominous bullshit is what it is if you ask me," he grumbled. "Shit, I gotta take a leak. Hold the fort down, ok?"

"And what a fort it is," his partner snarked, making a sweeping gesture to their steel surroundings.

"Yeah, yeah," the big guy sighed, making a beeline straight for our little hiding spot.

I'm not sure if you believe in a higher power or all that, but at that moment - with one of Junior's boys breaking every horror movie trope that I can think of and practically asking to be taken out - I felt like me and the Gods were probably on pretty good terms.

This theory was of course immediately shit on when Jaune fucking pushed me into a gap between two of the containers just as I was about to go after the goon and I fell flat on my ass. I was about halfway up and on my way to giving him a good ole 'what the fuck,' when I heard him speaking to someone.

"Uh, who goes there?" He asked someone I couldn't quite see, sounding about as nervous as he looked.

"Who goes there?" I heard a puzzled voice ask.

"Who the hell are you?" Another shot back. I crept forward as quietly as I could till I was able to just peak around the corner of the container and see who Jaune was talking to - a pair of White Fang grunts.

Yeah, the Gods were definitely shitting on me.

"I asked who the hell are you," the one on the left repeated, hand starting to drift towards his hip.

"I'm one of Junior's boys!" Jaune rushed out, raising his hands up in a peaceful gesture. It was a shaky lie, but I couldn't think of a better one on the spot either. The Fang member's hand stayed by his waist, but he seemed to relax a little at that.

"Don't look it," he grunted, eyeing Jaune up and down. "Didn't get any word on anyone like you being here either. Just told us to look for the guys in black suits. How do we know you're who you say you are?"

That was a great question. And like most great questions I'd been asked over the past 24-hours, I didn't have an answer for it. It didn't look like Jaune did either, because he started fidgeting in place the same way he always does when he's caught in a lie. Fortunately, the grunt on the right provided us an out.

"Hey, I remember you!" He said, snapping his fingers. "You're that kid from the fight the other night."

"Who?" His partner asked, relaxing a little.

"Dude, he's the guy that knocked out Banesaw! That shit was wild!" He explained excitedly.

"Oh yeah, it is you," the man said, finally straightening and letting his hand drop down. "Guess Roman is pretty serious about this whole thing if he's bringing you in for security."

"Uh, yeah. Really wanted to make sure that everything went smoothly," Jaune played along.

"Oh shit, you guys are early!" A voice called, making me jump. Junior's boy, who'd I'd honestly forgotten about in the heat of the moment, had apparently caught sight of the trio and - seeing the two guys in Grimm masks - correctly assumed they were Fang members. The way he eyeballed them told me that he was about as impressed with that fashion decision as I was. "You, uh, think those might be a little over the top?" He asked, pointing at them.

"They're for security, provide anonymity." The one on the left defended.

"Bro, so do ski masks, but they don't scream terrorist."

"We're _trying_ to send a message!" He shot back.

"Yeah, well you mind doing it on your own time? I'm not looking to get rolled up by the VPD because they see your spotlight of a disguise. Be subtle, like Jaune," he said, motioning towards the boy. "'Cept not like Jaune, cause you should be covering at least part of your face." Jaune shifted uncomfortably in place.

"Uh, sorry about that…"

"Craig. I was working the sound the night you had your fight," he offered, "and don't worry about it." He said, handing Jaune a pair of sunglasses he fished out of his coat pocket, which I had a lot of questions about - like who has a spare pair of sunglasses on them at night - but I decided to let go for the moment. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Uh, Junior asked me to come along," Jaune lied again.

The suit cocked his to the side. "Didn't say anything to me."

Jaune smiled and shrugged sheepishly, looking ridiculous in his new sunglasses. "I dunno what to tell you. Just got the call a little bit ago."

The man hummed as he looked over the Fang members. "Yeah, maybe that wasn't such a bad last minute call. Glad to have you with us," he finished, holding out a fist for Jaune to bump, which he did.

"So, uh, where are we doing this?" Jaune asked.

"Right over here." He said, jerking his head back towards the way he'd come.

"Are we doing this or what?" The more ornery of the two Fang members growled.

"Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on." Craig grumbled, before mumbling something about faunus that I won't repeat here to protect sensitive ears.

"The fuck did you say?" The Fang member shouted, hand falling back towards his waist, before his partner snatched it.

"Chill. We're here for the package, remember?" The other faunus warned, shooting a meaningful look over to Jaune. The man looked like he wanted to argue, but eventually let his hand drop.

"Fine," he grumbled.

"You got your boy?" Craig asked.

"We're good. Why don't you go ahead and show us the merchandise?" The faunus shot back.

"Sure thing. After you." Craig said, stepping aside and motioning back towards his post. After a few suspicious looks back and forth, and a few sent Jaune's way, they nodded and started walking towards whatever weapon of mass destruction Roman had acquired for them.

If you find yourself wondering - Em, what are you supposed to do when the whole plan, sad as it was, falls apart in the space of a few minutes? - then I'd tell you that's another one of those good questions that I definitely don't have the answer for. So, I did the only thing that I could think of.

I followed Jaune.

Mind you, I did it at some distance, keeping to the shadows enough to make sure that none of the Fang or Junior's thugs could see me, but I am aware that it's a pretty clear trend in my life. Craig shouted some kind of bullshit password at the rest of the boys as he approached and they converged on him and the Fang members. Which was good from the perspective that it gave them something else to do besides look for the green-haired girl that was creeping around the edge of their little pow wow, but also meant that Jaune was surrounded by criminals. And not the good kind, like me.

Or Junior.

Or Chris, I guess.

Or the twins, depending on how much they've been drinking.

Look, let's just agree that I dragged Jaune into some morally grey territory and we'll sort out who exists where on the spectrum later.

Point is, I had no way to get to Jaune and no exit strategy, which is - to use a trade term - being pretty fucked. Of course, the universe wasn't done having it's way with me yet, because after a brief urinary olympics, Junior's boys took the Fang and Jaune inside the giant metal container they were guarding, which meant I had no idea what was going on anymore. Luckily, Jaune thought of a brilliant and subtle way of communicating what he was seeing.

"Wow, that's a big robot!" He half-shouted.

Fucking Jaune.

"Maidens, kid! You want to keep that shit down?" I could hear Craig hiss. "We're trying to keep this thing off the six o'clock news if you don't mind."

"But it's almost midnight." Jaune defended.

"Boss definitely didn't pick you for your brains, huh?"

That one probably stung me more than Jaune, mostly because I've been following his plans for years.

"Sorry, first time for something like this." Jaune apologized.

"Don't worry about it." Craig sighed, before - I'm guessing - turning to the Fang members. "Well, kid's not wrong. This what you guys signed up for?"

"It'll do." The faunus that had been giving Jaune shit allowed.

"'It'll do', huh? You guys been running around with a lot of high tech gear recently? Cause last I saw on the news, it looked like a car that starts the first time would be a step-"

"Craig." Another one of the boys warned.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," he grumbled. "Listen, this monstrosity is yours, so that it and go do whatever it is that you do-"

"Fight for equality."

"Yeah, that, as far away from the bar as humanly possible."

"That some kind of faunus joke?"

"Fuck me," Criag moaned. "Fine, take this shit as far away as faunusly possible. Happy now?"

"Not really, human," the Fang member shot back.

"Oh? Well then, can I interest you good boys in a trea-" Craig grunted as someone, who apparently didn't want to get in a gunfight in the middle of the docks, elbowed him in the ribs. "Listen, what's it going to take for you guys to fuck off? I kinda got other things, a lot of them prettier than you, that I was trying to do tonight." He asked instead.

"As do we, humans. Unfortunately, we don't know how to pilot the robot."

I would describe the silence that followed as rage filled, which is a weird thing to be able to _feel _from outside of a shipping container, but I'll be damned if I didn't start reaching for my pistols.

"You fucking what now?" Craig growled.

"Sorry, never really got the chance to learn when we were working with all those cars that don't start." The Fang member snarked.

"Yeah? Well you were talking some mad shit about it not being that impressive a second ago. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"That wasn't the deal."

"The fuck it wasn't. We delivered the damn thing."

"To the rally. You're supposed to deliver it to the rally."

"Bro, it's right fucking here. You take it to the fucking rally."

"Sure, as soon as you teach us how to drive the thing."

The silence that followed that I would describe as embarrassed, mostly because Craig didn't have shit to say to that. The Fang member apparently caught on to that little detail too.

"You don't know how to pilot it either, do you?"

"Didn't think I'd have to!" Craig burst out. "It's your robot!"

"That you stole for us!"

"I could steal a submarine, wouldn't mean I could take you down to the bottom of the harbor!"

"Psh, sounds like a pretty pathetic thief to me."

"You know what? On second thought, I think I can show you the bottom of the harbor. Just stand right there for me."

I was already up and moving towards the opening of the container, convinced that things were about to take a turn for the violent when a very short, but very big, lie cut through the night.

"I can do it."

I could feel every eye in the room turn to Jaune.

"You can?" Craig asked slowly.

"Uh, yeah, sure thing." Jaune lied unconvincingly.

"And just where the hell did you learn to pilot this pre-market mech, kid?"

Wasn't that, like a troubling number of others, a good question? I tensed again, ready to bail Jaune out from his bullshit lie, when he doubled down on the bullshit.

"Neo taught me."

"Who's Neo?" One of the Fang asked.

"Pray for your sake that you never find out," Craig grumbled. "How'd Neo teach you, kid?"

I got the distinct impression that Jaune was shrugging. "Dude, I don't know how all her Semblance works. All I know is that she teleported into my room wearing an Atlas uniform and then started telling me how to drive the damn thing. Well, signed it to me, I guess."

"Is that a thing? Do you have people that can do that?" The Fang asked.

"I think so. Not really sure. Nobody knows for sure." Craig explained. "Sounds kinda like a Neo story, kid, but I'm not sold yet. What are you leaving out?"

I felt as much as heard Jaune sigh. "She kept signing down by her chest. Kicked _me_ in the chest everytime my eyes dropped."

"Aaaannnnnddd now it's a Neo story. Ok, I'm sold. You ready to pilot this monster for us, kid?"

"Uh, I think so?"

"Doesn't sound very confident." The Fang pointed out.

"Listen, if you knew this bitch you'd know that's the best you're getting." Craig explained. "Alright, kid, you're up."

"You want me to just…"

"Hop on up there. You're the best shot we got."

And just like that, I watched Jaune disappear into the shelter with the boys, leaving the two Fang grunts outside. Not sure if you've ever had the anxiety attack of knowing that your best friend is about to be found out as a class A liar by not one, but two very scary organizations. I assure you that it's less than a good time. I had to figure out a way to get Jaune out of there and I had to figure out a way to do it fast. I started to creep around the container that I was hiding behind, trying to angle myself in such a way that I could come at the two Fang members in a line, hopefully taking out the first before the second knew I was there.

Papa Arc may have been a reluctant teacher, but he was a damn good one.

My fingers curled around the grip of my weapon as I tensed my legs. I started a countdown from ten to see if maybe some miracle would happen before I started a fight on docks that would almost certainly evolve into more than what Jaune and I could handle on our own.

I got all the way to four before what I definitely wouldn't describe as a miracle, but was almost certainly divine intervention of the dickish kind, happened.

Blake showed up.

Well, her and some blond guy with a tail and abs for days, who I made a mental note to look up later. I say later because they were currently about to fuck up my plans - well...my near non-existent plans. They were hopping along the tops of the stacked shipping containers, I assume trying to be sneaky, as they closed in on the same White Fang members that I was stalking.

This was what we call in the business of stealing things, a big fucking problem. I'm not sure if I could use my Semblance on Blake while simultaneously fighting off Junior's boys and the Fang, but I certainly couldn't do it with what looked like another Huntsman candidate running around. At least, I assume he was. Who the hell has abs like that? Goddamn.

All of this was kind of a moot point however, because even if I was cool enough to do all those things, I wasn't cool enough to do it without someone being able to ID me or Jaune. Which would most likely end with Jaune being expelled and me at the bottom of this harbor.

No, I don't know why I ordered those two things like that. It's probably nothing to worry about.

Besides, I had much, much more exciting things to worry about. Like how monkey boy - I'm not racist, that's just the defining trait I had to go off at the moment besides the abs - decided that a loud ass 'whoop' was the way to start in on a stealth mission. The two Fang grunts apparently shared my surprise, because they cursed and started reaching for their weapons before monkey boy crashed down on them, his staff making an uncomfortable cracking sound as it bounced off their heads and they dropped like rocks. He smiled proudly up at Blake, who looked less than pleased, as he stood above their concussed bodies. It was his turn to look surprised when Junior's boys opened up on him.

I'm guessing that he hadn't taken the chance to scope out the whole perimeter before jumping in. From what little I know about Blake, I'm sure she'd let him know how she felt about that shit later.

Whatever the case was, Jaune and I's little stealth mission suddenly became a level in Duty Calls as the docks lit up with gunfire from about half a dozen different locations. And if the shouting in the distance was anything to go off of, I was assuming that things were about to get even more exciting. I wasn't too worried about Blake and her boy toy, they were making their way through the boys with a quickness. I was worried about Jaune though, which is why I took advantage of the second Faunus War breaking out on the docks to sprint for the doors of the shelter he was in.

Just in time for them to blow up in my face.

I do mean that literally too, the front wall of the container was literally blown off its hinges. And I'll tell you what, in a night that had mostly been about trying to be as quiet as possible, it was fucking loud. Like, I had to check to see if my ears were bleeding loud.

Aura's weird in what it does and doesn't cover.

From the look of Junior's boys that had been in the container with Jaune as they came stumbling out of the smoking and twisted steel of the shipping container, blood trickling out of their ears and unable to stand up straight, it had been a lot worse in the enclosed area. They caught Blake and her boy toy's attention, and they seemed to be trying to figure out if the goons required any further trauma for night when a deafening _screech_ and _hiss_ cut through the night air, followed by the ground shaking as something monstrously heavy slammed down. Then it happened again. And again. And again.

Worse, the thunderous footsteps, because that's the only thing I could think they might be, were getting closer to us. Blake and company looked about as shocked as I felt when the head of what I'd later learn was called a Paladin emerged from the wreckage. It was a massive, a titan of steel and glistening weaponry that looked capable of taking on hordes of Grimm by itself. I was suddenly hugely relieved that Jaune and I had taken the risk to keep this monster out of the Fang's hands. That relief lasted for all of an instant before the pieces started to click into place for me.

Junior's goons were on the ground.

The Paladin was up and moving.

Jaune was nowhere to be seen.

Holy shit...that son of a bitch had actually figured out how to pilot it!

As it turned out, that was somewhat of an overstatement, because with its next step, the metal behemoth slipped and went tumbling unceremoniously to the ground. Blake apparently took that as her cue to jump into action, because she started firing on the cockpit of the Paladin like it was going out of style. Fortunately, whatever caliber she was using was pretty light in the ass, because the rounds bounced off the darkened tempered glass of the cockpit without leaving much of a mark. Unfortunately, she'd apparently given up on that idea and was currently rushing forward to cut the pilot, Jaune, out of the machine.

I'd started shooting at her before I even realized I was doing it.

She veered off as the first shot pelted her Aura and slammed into one of the towers of steel containers, leaving a sizable impression in it. Unfortunately, the whole stack didn't see fit to tumble down on her. Certainly would have made my job easier. Instead, I got the unique pleasure of panic using my Semblance on her as she glared my way.

Fun fact about my Semblance, it can be very, very detailed, but only when I have the time properly plan it out and build it up in my mind. Otherwise, it just allows me to blur out my face and distort my voice like I'm on one of those 'protect the witness' videos that Vale PD put out, which is what Blake was currently experiencing. From the way she was hefting her blades, I decided to forgo the crippling headache of trying to use it on her partner as well and focus on fighting her. Besides, he had no idea who the fuck I was, and I didn't intend on going to Beacon anytime soon.

No, the problem was definitely going to be fighting them both at the same time, which it looked like I was going to have to do as Jaune's mech - and doesn't that feel weird to say - was flailing away on the ground and monkey boy started circling around to my side. Shit was looking pretty bad. Luckily - I guess - it started looking even worse as a fresh burst of gunfire ripped through the night and made all of us hug the ground. My head shot to the side and I saw two separate groups firing at us, one wearing tailored black suits and the other sporting Grimm masks. I guess both Junior's gang and the Fang had decided that explosions and gunfire weren't a sign that the arms deal wasn't going swimmingly. Monkey boy shot off to meet them like the polite host he was. Blake, however, only had eyes for me.

Really knows how to make a girl feel special.

Truth be told, I've never really fought many other Aura users besides Papa Arc, and honestly I was hoping to keep it that way. I'm not into making life harder than it needs to be like Jaune is. That being said, I immediately noticed a few key differences between Blake and the old man. Namely, how fucking fast she was.

The cat girl was on me in an instant, her blade flashing in my face, making me flinch back as her stupidly big heel found a home in my stomach. I doubled over, barely blocking her next strike with my hastily raised sickle. That didn't save me for long though, as I felt the pommel of her other blade slam into my nose rocking my head back, then something cold and steel press into my chest - which I soon recognized as the barrel of her weapon - before an incredible heat replaced it and I found myself sprawled out on my back on the cold, wet concrete of the docks.

"Give up. You're outmatched," Blake advised, pointing the barrel of her weapon down at me.

It wasn't bad advice. She was clearly better than anyone outside of Papa Arc that I'd ever fought in a fair fight - Neo doesn't count. But here's the thing, I'd noticed one other key difference between her and Papa Arc that kept me from throwing in the towel.

"You hit like a pussy," I informed her in my distorted voice.

That got about the reaction that I expected/hoped for. She grunted as she pulled the trigger, sending a shot my way that I deflected with my sickle before she lunged for me again. Unfortunately for her, Blake had committed the cardinal sin of fighting an illusion user...she'd given me time to get set. Her eyes widened as her blade slammed down into the hard concrete, they widened further when my shin acquainted itself with her sternum, sending her flying backwards through the air. She made what I'd call an unfairly athletic move and righted herself in the air, landing back on her feet and growling at me before shooting towards me again - blades and teeth flashing.

There's a cat joke to made in there, but I felt like I'd already reached my quota for the night. Besides, I already had what I needed. I may be an ok, if dirty, fighter on my own merits, but if I can get you to swing at what you _think_ is me - an arm's length to my left? Well, then I'm fucking devastating.

I danced around the faunus, chipping away at her Aura as she continuously swung and missed, her tight, focused strikes coming faster and wilder as her Aura continued to drop and she became more desperate. I waited for my moment, the one where she'd overreach and make a mistake desperate enough that I'd be able to end it - preferably without seriously hurting her - and when I showed her an image of me slipping on the wet ground and losing my footing, that moment came. She lunged at me, desperate to take advantage of what she must have seen as a momentary slip from a superior opponent. Blake howled as my blade sliced down on her outstretched arm, forcing her to drop one of her twin blades. She made to dive for it as it skittered along the pavement and I shot her in her knee, making her buckle and groan before I planted my knee in her chin. She flopped onto her back and slid the blade underneath one of the nearby steel containers with my foot. She'd find it later...probably.

"Stay down," I parroted back at her. "I'm not here for you."

"No, you're here for the Fang," she hissed as she pushed herself up to her knees, propping herself up on her remaining blade. Well, she wasn't exactly wrong. I spared a quick glance over to where Jaune's Paladin was, slowly shambling it's way to its feet, before returning to her.

"It's not like that-" was about as I got before she shot pavement, causing a blinding flash and sending up a spray of dust and cement that made me cover my eyes. I felt her slam into my chest as she drove us both to the ground an instant later. Well, how about that?

Bitch fought dirty too.

I blinked furiously, trying to clear my eyes as my hands fought hers blindly. I had to get my Semblance going again before she could see again clearly. At least, I hoped that the blast had left her in the same state as me. Luckily, I was bigger than her, and even in the magical world of Aura, that meant that I could sweep her and end up on top, pressing my knee into her stomach while I pinned her wrist. Finally, I began to see a black blur that I could focus on and try to activate my Semblance on.

That's when the new, somehow more festive, explosions started. Both our heads whipped over toward the entrance of the docks where the Fang and Junior's boys had been pouring in to see three very familiar, very worrying, silhouettes standing among the flames.

"Blake! Where are you!?" A very shrill, very worried, Ruby called.

"Fuck," I whispered, before Blake kneed me in the cunt, making me repeat the curse at a much higher volume before she pushed me off her.

"Ruby! Over here!" she shouted at the red-head.

I did the only thing I could given the situation. I ran. I'm not proud of it. In fact, the very memory of it makes me sick to my stomach, but I knew that I wasn't about to take on four Huntresses, much less four that I'm pretty sure counted as among some of Beacon's best, at the same time. I needed to help Jaune, and I couldn't do that while getting my ass kicked.

I slammed a fist into Blake's dumb, cheating cat face, and scrambled away into the darkness, hiding behind one of the many overturned and charred shipping containers and peaking my head out to watch team RWBY go to work. If what had been occurring before was a shit show, then this was a full on fecal festival.

They tore through Fang and Junior's goons alike, sending white and black clad bodies flying like bowling pins. I couldn't be sure how much time was left until the involuntary distraction force had exhausted itself, but at the rate they were going, I guessed that I didn't have a ton of time left to figure out how I was going to get Jaune out of that goddamn mech.

That's the moment I'd say that shit got real.

I looked back towards Jaune's mech just in time to not only see it make its way back to its feet, but for it to open up every weapons port and restraining device on it, pointing them at Fang, goon, and Huntress alike. Everything seemed to freeze in that moment, as every living being on the dock stopped and stared at the re-awakened colossus staring them down. It was at that moment that the immortal words emanated from the machine and echoed through the night sky.

"_Weapons armed."_

I've never seen a room, much less a whole goddamn dock, clear so quickly. Everything with a pulse sprinted away from the Paladin in what I'd call a damn good show of survival instincts. All of which turned out to be a good call, because it started to _unload_. Rockets, lasers, and high caliber rounds tore through the night sky, shredding steel like it was paper and collapsing tower and tower of shipping containers. At some point, it apparently found a Dust deposit somewhere on the dock, because things _really _started to go high order, as explosions started from the far end and started creeping their way back towards us. Fucking thing had turned the whole place into a death trap.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I found myself on top of the damn thing pounding on the tempered glass of the cockpit.

"Jaune, you better get out of this goddamn thing right now!"

I could feel the explosions in my chest as the container after container went off like giant firecrackers, sending wave after wave into me as they got closer and closer.

"It's not fucking funny, Jaune! You need to get out now!" hot tears streamed down my face as I slashed my sickle across the seemingly impenetrable transparency of the cockpit.

The heat from the fire washed against my back as something particularly big went up and I chanced a look over my shoulder, which is when I spotted a stack of containers roughly a fucking mile high in the path of the fire...all with the Schnee Dust Company logo emblazoned on them.

"You know you have like two dozen sisters that will kick my ass if you bite it, right?!"

I couldn't help myself from looking anymore, glancing back and forth between the creeping fires and this fucking impenetrable canopy, which I was currently trying to jam the blade of my sickle into the seal of.

"Please, Jaune, please! I'm fucking begging you! Get out of the goddamn robot!"

I looked over my shoulder one last time and saw that the fire has reached the SDC containers, flames licking on the white snowflake logo and turning in black.

"Fuck you, Jaune! If you die here, then I-" was as far I got before the canopy tore itself free of the machine, launching me into the air as I watched what I assumed was the rest of the cockpit - including Jaune - rocket off into the night sky. I kept my eyes on it as long as possible before the cold water of Vale's harbor enveloped me, and I was fighting for breath. At some point, I was aware of an incredibly intense and hot wave wash over me, that I'd later come to realize was the SDC stockpile, and the Paladin, blowing the fuck up. When I surfaced, coughing and sputtering, on the top of Vale's small but choppy harbor, I immediately started looking for Jaune. After a minute, my eyes locked onto the off-white of a parachute floating in the water, and I swam for all I was worth toward it.

When I reached the thing, it was to a rapidly sinking and unconscious Jaune, still strapped into the detached seat of the Paladin. My weapon of choice was probably somewhere deep, deep beneath the waves of Vale's harbor, so I kicked and bit at the restraints holding him in as we sunk further and further the surface. I took one last gulp of air as we submerged and pulled wildly at the restraints, wishing as hard as I could that I had some kind of useful Semblance, like fire, cutting, or ice - anything that would let me save Jaune. I wished all the way until my lungs burned, begging me to return to the surface and taste some of that sweet, sweet air.

Fuck them.

Jaune was still down there.

Honestly, I'm not sure if it was desperation or some form of divine inspiration, but my hands eventually found the release switch, and I found myself and Jaune floating towards the surface. I don't remember a lot of what happened next, but when I came back in, I was performing chest compressions on Jaune, shouting at him for all I was worth.

"Fuck you, Jaune! Wake the fuck up!"

Jaune, for his part, remained real fucking quiet, so I pressed my lips to his and started breathing for all I was worth before returning to chest compressions. I'm not sure how long this cycle went on for, but a few things that I am sure of…

Eventually Jaune's eyes fluttered open.

I was bawling like a fucking baby when it happened.

He saw fit to spit up all the seawater he'd given a tour of his lungs directly into my face.

I'd probably have been more upset about the last if I wasn't so relieved by the first. I pulled him to me and squeezed his stupid face against my chest much more roughly than I imagine you're supposed to with someone that almost just died.

"Thank the Gods! Maidens you scared me so fucking much! Are you ok?!" I wept, laying my heart out on the line.

"You know...I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to make out with people that are asleep. I think it's like a crime or something." he croaked weakly, being an asshole.

I let him drop back on the concrete for that one.

"Fuck you."

"That's definitely a crime. Mom told me so."

"Yeah? She tell you that you're supposed to be a little bit more grateful to people that save your life too?"

He hummed as he slowly sat up. "I think that might have been in there somewhere," he frowned as he reached up and wiped a stray tear away from my cheek, "definitely threatened me about making girls cry though."

"Yeah, shouldn't do that shut." I whispered back, taking his hand in mine.

"Sorry about that."

We sat there for a minute, quietly enjoying each other's company...before the world came crashing back in.

"Holy shit!" Jaune shouted, jumping to his feet. "The girls! I saw them there!" He grabbed me by the shoulders. "Did they get caught in the blast!? Are they ok!?"

"I-I…" Truth be told, I didn't have any idea what happened to those girls. I'd seen them fleeing the blast zone in the beginning, but then I'd been too concerned with getting Jaune out to worry about anything else. As I wanted to keep Jaune here with me, I knew what I had to do. "I don't know. I saw them running away, so they're probably ok, but you should check on them."

"Yeah," he agreed quickly, pulling his scroll out then cursing at its waterlogged state. He looked hopefully at me and I shook my head.

"I don't even have mine anymore. Must have lost it in the water."

"Maybe we can-"

"Just go you dummy!" I chastised. "Your team is going to be losing their minds anyway. I'm sure the News is eating this shit up."

He looked hesitantly at me. "Em, are you-"

"Go!" I commanded. "I'm a big girl, I'll find my way home."

He nodded and started backing away, pointing at me as he went. "You're going to call me?"

"As soon as I get a new phone."

"You promise?"

"Pinky swear and everything." I promised, holding the little finger up.

"Don't forget."

"Jaune!"

"I'm going! Love you!" He said, turning and starting to jog off into the night, his shoes squeaking with every step.

"Yeah, love you too you big idiot." I half-whispered as I watched him disappear into the darkness.

* * *

Sneaking back into Junior's place seemed way easier than it should have been. I'd expected the boys to be out in force, securing the perimeter in case whoever had come after the shipment - me - decided to hit a little closer to home. Instead, there wasn't so much as a soul on the streets, which given the long line that usually wrapped around the block to get in the doors of The Club, was kinda eerie.

Hell, even calling it sneaking would be a bit of a stretch. I more just walked up to the front door and slowly, very slowly pulled the handle down so it wouldn't make any noise, just like I would back in the day when I'd been out way past curfew.

The problem with that was that Papa Arc always waited up on me.

A giant hand closed around my wrist like a vice as soon as I cracked open the door to the club. I pulled against it on instinct and tried to slam the door on their arm, but the door ripped open and I was thrown to the ground inside. I scrambled awkwardly in a panic, trying to turn back and face the source of the threat, my hands reaching for my weapons. Two things ended up stopping me.

The first was when I saw it was Junior standing by the door, looking for all the world like a disappointed dad.

The other, and far more concerning, was the designer shoe that stomped down on my right hand. I started to scream out in pain, but that was cut short by the cane that cracked across my jaw and sent me sprawling.

"You stupid bitch!" Roman roared as I felt his slash across my back. "Do you know what you've done!? Do you!?" He demanded as he continued to beat seven different kinds of hell out of me.

I'd like to tell you about how I stood up to him. About how I grabbed that cane and gave him a taste of his own medicine. Except I can't, because...well, we had an agreement, didn't we?

What I actually did was turn right back into a scared little girl on the streets of Mistral and curled up into the fetal position, trying my best to cover my head as the blows rained down. Roman played the part of angry pickpocket victim well enough. Or maybe he was one of those drunks that just want to take their day out on someone. Or one of the guys that thought I was pretty and got angry when I didn't want to spend the night with them. And that I bite.

It's hard to tell honestly, it all kinda blends together after a while. You end up just covering up and trying to be somewhere else until they got bored or tired...or until they beat you to death.

Whichever came first.

"Roman," I heard Junior's voice cut through the pain. Roman ignored it, continuing to slam his cain into me.

"You've fucking killed us!" He shouted down at me.

"Roman, that's enough." Junior said, closer this time.

"You fucking killed us, you know that!?" He howled, ignoring Junior again as he really started to put his back into it and I felt the blood start to trickle down my back.

"Roman!" Junior roared, and suddenly the beating stopped. "I said enough."

I still didn't dare to peak my head out from behind my arms until I heard Roman say-

"Best take your hand off me, Junior."

I slowly raised my eyes and saw the giant holding onto the gangster's arm, apparently caught mid-swing, by the wrist above his head.

"Don't take that tone with me in my bar, Roman." Junior shot back.

Roman chuckled darkly. "Oh, it's your bar is it?"

"It is."

"And for how much longer do you think that's going to be the case?" The mobster asked as he stared him down. "She could take it from you in a second."

"Maybe," Junior agreed solemnly, " but tonight, it's still my bar, and I said enough."

"Yeah. Yeah, ok." Roman whispered as he went limp, his cane dropping back down to his side as Junior released him. Big Cat watched him the whole way as he trudged over to the bar and grabbed a bottle of something expensive.

I don't think we were supposed to talk about the way he positioned himself between me and Roman, so none of us did. He silently helped me to my feet, eyes scanning over the welts that would be bruises soon.

"Thanks," I whispered weakly. He grunted in reply and shook his head.

"Em, what the fuck were you thinking?" He asked quietly. I decided that there wasn't any point in lying anymore. They obviously knew something was up, and playing dumb might set Roman off again.

"Junior, they were going to hurt people. A lot of people. Too many." I answered shakily. Big Cat's face twisted up in a pained grimace at that, but Roman barked a laugh from the bar.

"Oh Gods, we picked one with a conscience! What are the fucking odds, huh, Junior? And here I thought you'd sold us out to someone else."

My eyes shot up to Junior. "I wouldn't."

He nodded slowly. "I know."

"Well, that's sweet and all…" Roman sighed heavily as he poured himself another glass, "but I'd almost have felt better if you did. Maybe then I could hope for a bigger fish than the great white we're currently dealing with. Either way, I wouldn't worry too much about people getting hurt anymore."

"You think the Fang will back off?" I asked hopefully, stupidly.

"Oh no, they're still going to hurt people. A hell of a lot more than you can even imagine, but-" he took a deep pull from his glass, "we're all going to be very dead by then, so don't worry your pretty little head about it. Ok?"

"Shit," I whispered, a cold dread creeping its way into my heart.

"You feel better now?" He asked. "This is what you wanted, right? To feel better about your-"

"Roman," Junior warned, cutting him off. The gangster grunted and shrugged.

"Whatever. She's on her way here now anyway. Might as well be civil before we bite it I guess."

"How long do we have before she gets here?" Junior asked.

"You keep saying 'she,' who is 'she?'" I tried, only to be completely ignored as Roman snorted and pointed to himself.

"Junior, you think she tells me when things happen?"

"I'd assume-"

"No, she tells me the where, and I damn well better be there when she arrives."

"Who's she?" I asked again.

"Is there anything we can do before she gets here?" Big Cat asked, not even looking in my direction.

"Uh, get drunk is what I'd suggest," he answered, shaking his glass. "I'd pray for mercy too, but I don't believe in any of that shit."

"I've got guys, we can-"

"Junior," Roman cut him off. "I need you to stop thinking of her like a person and think of her more like a natural disaster. It's going to happen. There's nothing you can do to stop it." He downed the rest of his drink and stared down into his empty glass. "Trust me, I've tried. We'll either be alive come sunrise...or we won't. That's all there is to it."

"Who. Is. She?" I demanded, quickly losing patience and becoming increasingly scared.

"I just…" Junior trailed off.

"You send the girls out?" Roman asked.

"Yeah, as soon as you called."

Roman nodded and said gently, "Then you've done everything you could. Now we wait."

"Who the fuck is she!?" I shouted as loudly as I could, finally getting both their attention. Roman hummed as he considered me.

"Actually, we should probably clean her up before she gets here now that I think about it. She looks like hell."

Junior snorted. "And whose fault is that?"

"Hey, what can I say? I'm a passionate man when my life is threatened."

"Whatever," Big Cat grumbled. "Just grab a bottle of water and towel from behind the bar. We'll get her cleaned up."

"No! Nobody's doing shit till you tell me exactly what's going on." I demanded.

Roman tsked as he fished behind the counter. "Girly, we don't have time for me to answer all you damn questions."

I ignored the fact that he'd just told us he had no idea how much time we had and pressed on.

"Just one then. Who is she?"

Junior looked like he was trying to find something to say before a noise cut through the bar, silencing everyone.

A single knock from the door.

Roman sighed and slumped down in his stool.

"Well, Girly, you're about to find out."

* * *

**Memory Lane**

I like to think that I've made Jaune's life a lot more exciting than it would have been. Made him experience more of it, you know?

That being said, exciting can also loosely translate to trouble when I'm involved, so I guess you can say that I've gotten Jaune into a lot more trouble than he would have otherwise. But so what? It's been good for him.

Except for when it hasn't.

I remember the first time that I got Jaune into something that was above both our heads. I remember the first time I almost got Jaune killed…

* * *

"Em, this is super duper dumb," Jaune told me for roughly the hundredth time since we'd arrived under the overpass on the edge of Vale that we were scheduled to meet some of my...less than legal friends at.

"Nobody asked you to come," I informed him.

"Uh huh. And what was I supposed to do, just let you come down here on your own?"

"That was the plan as I recall. Hence me, you know, not telling you the plan." He rolled his eyes at me, which was almost as annoying as what he said next.

"Sure you didn't."

I turned and gave him a big ole eyebrow raise.

"Exsqueeze me?"

"You heard me."

"Oh, I heard you, I just don't know what the fuck you're talking about," I clarified, before poking a finger in his chest. "And don't you dare roll your eyes at me again, Jaune Arc."

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Ok, ok. I just hear you walking around my room, talking real loud on your scroll about a 'meet up' and a 'package,' and I figured that you were trying to send one of your weird passive aggressive messages across."

"Yeah? Well, maybe you figured wrong," I countered, suddenly aware that I wasn't nearly as slick as I thought I was.

He smirked real big, which is one of the hallmarks of being an asshole.

"Maybe, but the way you kept 'losing' your scroll around me with all your texts with this guy pulled up says different."

A more perceptive asshole than I'd originally anticipated.

"It's rude to read a girl's texts, you know?"

"You could just like, I dunno, ask for help. You know that, right?"

"I didn't need it." I informed him, which is technically true. I would have been fine on my own...probably. But on the more honest side of things, I needed Jaune because I'm a giant fucking fraud and doing something like this on my own was terrifying.

Luckily for me, Jaune gets me enough not to point that out, which I suppose makes up for him being a bit of an ass.

"Soooo, what are we here for anyway?" He asked after a minute.

"Something cool," I said, playing coy because I was still a little embarrassed.

"Like...illegal cool?" He asked slowly, which earned him a deadpan stare. He sighed, "right, of course it is. What is it exactly? You know, just so I have an idea how long I'm going to jail for."

"We're not getting caught, so you don't have to worry about it."

"Em," he pleaded, which restored enough of my fragile, fragile pride that I relented.

"Fiiiiine. We're here to pick up the one thing your dad has sworn up and down he'll never let me have." He blinked at me for a second.

"Tequila? A driver's licence? A webcam? Em, you really need to narrow it down."

I mentally took back all the nice things I'd ever said about Jaune.

"Har har. You're a real comedian, you know that? No, asshole, we're here to pick up a weapon, a _Huntsman_ weapon." I watched with satisfaction as his eyes grew wide.

"Maidens, Em! Dad will kill you!" He exclaimed.

"Only if he finds out," I corrected, sending him a meaningful look. He groaned and ran a hand down his face.

"Where'd you even find one?"

"That took some time," I allowed. "Turns out that they're not exactly growing on trees."

He tsked. "No kidding, they're stupid expensive." He squinted at me. "Hold up, where'd you get the cash for this?"

"That," I started, "is none of your business. Besides, Ivory is giving me a hell of a deal on this one."

"Ivory, huh?"

"That's the dude's name."

"And what do we know about Ivory?"

"That he has wholesale Huntsman weapons."

"Maidens, Em." He hissed. "You ever stop to think about why that might be?"

I shrugged. "He did list them as 'gently used.'"

He threw back his head and groaned. "Fuck me."

"Pretty sure that's a porn category, but no thanks." I kicked at his ankle when he glared at me. "Anywho, looks like our guy is here." I said, nodding towards the black SUV that had pulled off from the highway and started to make its way down the dirt path to us. Sure enough, once it pulled up a few meters away, a tall, lanky guy with jet black hair wearing tattered jeans and a sports coat of all things stepped out of the driver's side.

If you're the curious type, his skin looked like he hadn't seen the sun in a few years, so the name fit just fine.

"You Topaz?" He asked, keeping his hands where I couldn't see them. I ignored Jaune's snort behind me and tried to remain professional.

"Yeah, that me."

He nodded towards Jaune. "Thought you were coming alone."

I shrugged. "Family. What are you going to do? He's harmless." That earned me a huff from said harmless Jaune. "You got the package?"

He hummed. "That depends, you got the cash?"

"Right here," I answered, producing a _very _fat envelope from my back pocket. "Now, show me what you got."

He grunted and reached back into the vehicle, bringing out two of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. Twin sickles, each of them small enough to fit into a hand and compact enough to fit onto a belt. They didn't gleam, like those legendary blades you'll hear in storybooks. No, instead they seemed to absorb the light, somehow both staying subtle and shimmering at the same time.

I knew I had to have them.

I licked my lips. "So, we doing this?"

Ivory nodded and started walking forward. Honestly, I wasn't even paying that much attention to him at that point. My eyes were locked onto the weapons hanging loosely from his hands as I dumbly pressed out the envelope in mine, desperate to make the trade.

So, you can imagine my surprise when those same weapons started to rise up as we got closer. How it took me a second to process what was going on when Ivory held the barrel of one right up to my eye. You can understand the weight of suddenly knowing exactly how he had gotten these 'gently used' weapons hitting me slowing down my reaction time.

Fortunately for me, it didn't slow down Jaune's. He slammed into Ivory like he was a goddamn missile, tackling the gangster's outstretched arm just in time for the shot to pass by my head instead of through it. I stumbled back, stunned, as Jaune and Ivory wrapped up in a whirlwind of fists and curses. My world slowed to a crawl as Ivory, who apparently had his Aura unlocked, pistol whipped Jaune with enough force that I swore to the Gods that I heard his skull crack. He dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, lying there in a heap. Ivory spat on the ground and tried to bring the gun back around on me.

I don't know if I have shown someone the level of horrors that I hit Ivory with before or since.

He fell to ground screaming and clawing at his eyes as I poured every nightmare I'd ever had into this dumb fucking bastard's head. I pressed my Semblance in ways I'd never done before, really bringing out the full array of senses. I made sure he smelled his flesh burning. I made sure he tasted the blood in his mouth. That he saw every monstrosity, that he felt and heard every violation.

It still wasn't enough. This motherfucker had hurt Jaune, and I was damn sure going to hurt him back.

I don't know when I started hitting Ivory, but I do know that by the time that grey Huntsman pulled me off him, Crimson would have been a better name. I rounded on the guy, who looked to be about Papa Arc's age with black hair and red eyes, and just about slugged him too. He caught my wrist and shook his head.

"Kid, that's enough." He nodded towards Ivory's prone form. "He's down."

I glanced back at the motionless gangster, then down at my blood soaked hands, and my mind started to race as the panic set in.

"I-...he-" The Hunter put a gentle hand on my shoulder and shushed me.

"It's ok, it's ok. I've been tracking this guy for a while. Likes to target young people that can't afford the high end gear. Case of self defense if I've seen one, kid." I'll never know if he knew that was a lie or not.

"But the police-"

"Don't you worry about them." He soothed. "Why don't you just grab your blond friend over there and make tracks? Vale Central Hospital isn't too far from here."

"Thank you," I whispered, tears in my eyes as I rushed over to Jaune and pulled him onto my shoulder.

He hummed. "Don't worry about it. Got a couple of nieces about your age that this guy could have gone after."

I think I made some kind of noise in response as I loaded into Ivory's SUV, but I can't really be sure. I was just about to hope in the driver's seat when I felt the Hunter's hand on my shoulder again. I looked up at him and he pressed the sickles into my hands.

"Hey now, don't want to forget your weapons, do you, kid?"

I swallowed and nodded numbly. "No, sir."

"Get out of here, I got this."

He must have too, because I've never heard anything about Ivory since.

For my part, I then proceeded to break every traffic law in Vale on my way to the hospital.

Jaune never really brings that day up, but I still think about it all the time. I think about it because it taught me several important lessons.

Never trust anyone, Jaune scares me with how selfless he's willing to be, and most importantly...that I'm willing to kill anyone that tries to take my family away from me.

* * *

**Vile Weapons**

**The battle against the White Knights went about as well as could be expected, which is to say that we were losing badly.**

**Our hastily thrown together lines were blown apart as their organized and well equipped first ranks slammed into us like a tidal wave. Ice Monkey and Topaz soldiers alike scrambled over each other in a desperate attempt to flee from the snow white uniforms and reform, but it was to no avail. Their fire was accurate and deadly, cutting us down in swaths.**

**I have very little recollection of my own sprint back to our trenches. A flash here of Crooc suddenly being beside me. Another of us picking up Burk off the ground. Yet another of Demy waving us in and covering us with all too weak rifle fire.**

**What I do remember is collapsing against the wall of the trench and Captain Atic's manic grin filling my vision.**

"**Good work, boys! Got'em right where we want them!"**

"**You're insane." I sputtered, but he just shook his head and laughed as he and Captain Fan rolled steel canisters up to the lip of the trench. They looked back to us again, that sickening grin adorning both their faces.**

"**Behold! Our secret weapon, boys!" Captain Fan started.**

"**Noxious Trench Refuse!" Captain Atic continued.**

"**NTR!" They finished together, before unsealing the containers and releasing what I can only describe as some of the most foul and acrid gas that I've seen. It crept across the battlefield, slowly rolling over both the White Knight's line as well as our own. All it touched coughed and sputtered, regardless of affiliation. Men and women dropped to the ground, clawing at their eyes and howling. Through it all the Captains smiled, clapping each other on the shoulder.**

"**You're killing us all," I croaked weakly.**

**Captain Atic cocked his head to the side. "Who's that, boy?"**

"**The fandom." I whispered back.**

**He laughed and shook his head. "Well, don't worry, lad! That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make!"**

* * *

Also, I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted to do this, but I decided to start a ko-fi page. I'm using it save up money for when I stop being a pansy and decide to pursue publishing something original (don't worry, it'll be awhile before I get the nerve).

It's ko-fi dot com slash jiu_jitsudude

If you feel like you'd like to throw in a few bucks, I'm honored. If not, I'm still going to keep on writing. It's cheaper than therapy


	12. A Monster's Meeting

**Man, one day these'll come out on time.**

**Cr00cy continues to keep the gears turning and shout out to guyinthecap, who had some excellent edits that really improved the chapter.**

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

**A Monster's Meeting**

* * *

_It's honestly hard for me to know where to start with Cinder Fall._

_She's a monster, I know that._

_She's also powerful, beautiful, inspiring, terrifying, comforting, cruel, intoxicating, and venomous._

_Listen, she's a lot of things, but maybe the best way I can think to sum her up is that she's captivating. There aren't rooms that Cinder just happens to be in, there are rooms where Cinder holds court. Cinder doesn't ask, she instructs._

_It's fucking weird, and it doesn't seem like something that should work, but time and again I've seen people bow their heads, either because they wanted to...or because they were too afraid not to._

_If I'd met her in another life, before I met the Arcs? Who knows what she'd be to me._

_But I knew what she was going to be for me now the first time I saw her._

_A big fucking problem._

* * *

I don't know if you'd ever had the unique pleasure of seeing a bunch of big, bad crime lords staring at a door like a bunch of kids thinking the Gods-be-damned boogyman is on the other side, and that if they just keep quiet, maybe he won't notice them, but I'd highly recommend it for its entertainment value. Unless, of course, the boogyman is in fact on the other side of that door, and people who you consider to be very scary themselves are afraid to so much as say 'come in.'

Then, in my personal experience, I've found it to be less humorous.

Strangely, and terrifyingly, enough, whoever was on the other side of the door didn't feel the need to knock again as we all stared at the door pissing ourselves. It was like she knew we heard her, and were just processing the 'oh fuck' moment in our heads. I say terrifying, because it meant she knew she had this effect on people. As it turned out, Junior was the bravest among us, because he finally coughed and said-

"Come in...please."

The door swung open slowly on command, creaking like we'd paid the damn thing to add to the dramatic tension as the light of the bar slowly illuminated the figure standing just outside.

I can tell you that she was not what I was expecting. I don't know why, but I thought she'd be old, a seasoned crime boss that'd seen dozens of players come and go. Maybe someone that was a little bit overweight from years of eating well. Definitely someone that'd be sporting a few scars to show her time in the shark tank of the underworld.

I can also tell you that she was hands down the most beautiful woman that I've ever seen.

She was wearing a dark red dress that was conservative enough to be professional, but hugged closely enough to leave no room to mistake the toned body beneath. Jet black hair framed a pale face that seemed torn straight out of a fashion magazine. The only blemish was the edge of a scar peeking out from the bangs covering her right eye.

Well, at least I guess right on the scar part right.

Her left eye however, was a deep, burning amber. Whether it was burning from excitement or anger I couldn't tell you. I also couldn't tell you which scared me more. I can tell you that when the corner of her mouth curled up in smirk, my heart skipped a beat.

From the sound of Roman nearly falling off his stool behind me, he was experiencing something similar.

"Thanks for inviting me in, it gets cold out this time of night," she said in a voice that was dark and rich as she stepped into the bar, eye scanning over the Club in an instant. "Quite the place you have here. It's...quaint." She finished, her gaze locked onto Junior.

I half expected Junior to rise to the bait. The Club was his life. The fact that he didn't told me a lot about just how scared I should be. That feeling doubled when her eye found its way over to me.

"Roman, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" She chastised playfully.

The thief coughed. "Uh, yeah, sure. This is Junior, he-"

"I know who he is," she cut him off. "I was talking about the one you've been hiding from me."

"Cinder, I'd never-"

"Roman?"

I could feel him squirming as he answered.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Do you believe me a fool?"

"No! I-"

"Then be a good boy and don't speak until spoken to," She finished, voice ice as she started crossing the room over to me. Every fiber of my being was screaming for me to run, to find somewhere else to be, but I couldn't stop staring into her glowing eye. "I think introductions are far overdue."

I sat there, frozen in place till she was standing in front of me, giving me a smile that was somehow both gentle and knowing - and very likely actually neither.

"What's your name, little bird?"

"Em," someone squeaked out weakly. When I realized that someone was me, I coughed and answered again. "Emerald."

"Emerald," she purred, rolling my name around on her tongue as she gave me a once over. "And what a gem you are."

I swallowed dryly. "Um, thanks, you're, uh...really pretty too."

You ever want to kill yourself for something you've said, but you're also not sure if someone else in the room is going to beat you to it? Yeah, it's not great, which is why I pressed on to see what new and exciting ways I could potentially fatally put my foot in my mouth.

"Uh...Cinder, is it?"

Thankfully, she just smirked and nodded. "Cinder Fall. And thank you, I try."

No shit she did. You don't look like that without trying a lot. That being said, I think I could have tried twice as hard and not looked half as good as she did.

"So, uh, listen...the thing at the docks-"

She tsked and shook her head. "We'll get to all that in a minute, dear. No, for right now I want to hear more about you."

"Me?" I balked.

"Yes, of course. I hardly know anything about you after all, thanks to Roman." She said, shooting a glance over towards the thief that made him shrink in his seat. "And I like to know as much as I can about my friends." She cocked her head to the side. "We're going to be friends, aren't we, Emerald?"

"Yeah!" I blurted out, before coughing. "I mean, of course we are, Cinder." She smiled again like she hadn't already known what I was going to say.

"Good, that makes me happy, Emerald. Now, why don't you tell me how you came to Vale? I know it must be recent. People as special as you don't come around without me hearing about them."

"I don't know that I'm all that spec-"

"Don't do that." She cut me off, smile gone.

"Don't do what?"

"Belittle yourself," she clarified, gaze hard. "It's beneath you. You're exceptional, and that allows you to do exceptional things. Never be ashamed of that."

"Yes, ma'am." I answered, hoarsely.

"So formal," she chuckled. "It's Cinder, Emerald. Please remember that, it'll be important for the future and I do so hate repeating myself." She brushed the hair back from her good eye and smiled again. "Now, you were telling me about coming to Vale."

I noted that she hadn't asked me what I thought about our apparent future together. Whatever the case was, my mind raced to find the right way to answer her. Not knowing how much someone does or doesn't know about you makes lying a tricky proposition. If they do know about you, then they can ask you questions that they already know the answers to to see if you're lying. I had no idea how much Roman had told her, so I decided to hedge my bets and tell her the truth, but as vague a truth as I could without bringing Jaune into it.

"I had business with Roman," I answered nervously. Her eye lit up at that.

"Ah, that makes sense. He is something of an established figure around here," she said, nodding to herself. "What business, if you don't mind me asking?"

Her tone made it clear that she didn't give a flying fuck if I minded or not, I was going to tell her.

So I did.

"I wanted forged Beacon transcripts."

She laughed at that. Not giggled, not tittered, not politely chuckled. She full on burst out laughing like I'd just told Remnant's greatest joke. I decided that the safest option for me, and everyone else in the room, was to shut the fuck up and let her finish whatever this was. After a few seconds she shook her head and collected herself.

"You were actually intent on attending the academy?" She asked, incredulously.

Bingo.

She didn't know about Jaune after all.

"Didn't seem so crazy to me. I think I could hack it," I defended.

She chuckled again, shaking her head. "Oh, don't misunderstand me, dear Emerald. I wasn't trying to insult you, I just think I found your greatest sin."

"What's that?" I asked carefully.

"Lack of ambition, or maybe imagination," she answered, reaching up and caressing my cheek with a hand that felt strangely warm. "I have no doubt that you could 'hack it' at Beacon. To the contrary, I think you'd be a goddess there."

"Uh, thanks."

"But, Emerald, what's the point of being the goddess of an anthill?"

I blinked. "Huntresses are-"

"Vain? Overrated? Never on time?" She asked, which are all honestly statements that I wouldn't fight you too hard on. "Take your pick really. Or maybe you need a reminder?"

She pulled her scroll out from some pocket that I still don't know where she hid in that dress and held it before me. There was a grainy picture of me and Blake standing across from each other on the screen. She pressed the play button on the bottom, and the image of Blake started harmlessly swatting at where she thought I was, each swipe landing short as I cracked her again and again.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Cinder asked. "A Huntress, completely outmatched by someone who I'm guessing has never had a day of formal training in her life."

"She-"

"Not just any Huntress, mind you," she continued, ignoring me. "She was part of the White Fang, you know? A true dyed in the wool terrorist, if you'll excuse the pun. Far beyond her peers in terms of actual experience. And yet, completely helpless once you found your footing."

"She ended up coming back in that little tussle," I hedged.

She hummed. "Yes, but only because you indulged in another weakness." Her eye locked onto mine. "You tried to show her mercy. I imagine that seemed like the 'Huntress' thing to do?"

I decided to let her run as far as she wanted to with that line of thinking, letting her think that I spared Blake out of some weird Huntress code rather than the fact that I just wasn't a fucking psychopath.

"Yeah, sure."

She tsked. "There's that lack of imagination again. Imagine where you could be if you just let such...antiquated concepts go. Don't worry, we'll work that out of you."

Funnily enough, that made me worry much, much more.

"It wasn't even like I beat her in a fair fight," I explained hurriedly, not even sure what I was doing anymore. "I-"

"Cheated?" Cinder offered with a raised brow. "Tell me, Emerald, do you think that she cheated when she learned at the knee of private instructors?"

"No, but-"

"But that gave her an advantage over you, one that you didn't have the financial means to match." She said. "That seems strangely like cheating to me."

"Well, I guess, but-"

"But nothing." She cut me off again. "Do you want to know what I think, Emerald?"

No.

"What's that?" I asked anyway.

"That there's no such thing as cheating. You use the advantages that you've been gifted with and you win or lose, and that's all there is to it." She answered. "And you, Emerald, are very gifted indeed. Tell me, what's your Semblance?"

I fought every fiber in my being to keep from glancing over to Roman to see if I could get a hint at what he'd told her already as she stared me down. Instead, I did something far more painful…

I told her the truth.

"I do illusions." I answered weakly.

She grinned devilishly. "I knew it! Tell me, is it just sight or is it sound as well? What about smell? Is it just the person that you're using it on that's affected, or can everyone see them?"

"Uh, it's just the one person."

"Is that the limit then? One person?" She pressed.

Sure, why not?

"Yeah, just the one."

She hummed. "Everything has limits, I suppose. Well, no matter, we'll figure it out."

"Figure what out?" I asked.

"Leave that to the people with imagination for now," she answered with a smile. "Now, you were telling me about your Semblance, but I think it might just be faster if you show me, don't you think?"

I balked. "You want me to use my Semblance on you?"

She blinked. "That seems to be the quickest way to explain it to me. Unless, of course, you see some issue with that."

My mind raced as I considered the possibilities. Who the fuck asked to have their perception of reality warped while in, if not enemy, then at least questionable territory? Was she just that confident in her abilities? Was she immune to illusions somehow? Did she have someone else watching her back that we just couldn't see?

Was it all three?

"No, no issue," I answered warily.

"Excellent," she smiled before scrunching her face in concentration. "Now, what for you to make me see?"

Well, I was glad I hadn't just up and used it on her then. That sounded like it might have ended with me in quite a bit of pain.

"It'd have to be something I've experienced before, or else I won't have any context for how it feels," she continued. "Not something like an attack either, it moves too fast, the details can be blurred." She looked up at me. "Can you do food?"

I shrugged. "Kinda? The details on that are hard because I don't know what you like. If I don't like chocolate and you do, it can create a dissonance."

She raised an eyebrow. "Who doesn't like chocolate?"

"Nobody I trust."

She chuckled. "Still, I see your point. It'd have to be something of a universal experience, wouldn't it?" Her eye lit up suddenly and a wicked grin spread across her face. "Oh, I have an idea."

I was 110% sure that I wasn't going to like the idea, but that didn't stop me from dutifully asking:

"What's that?"

She leaned forward way farther into my personal space than I was ready for and whispered to me.

"Emerald, be a dear and make me naked, won't you?"

I fucking blue screened as my face darkened several shades.

"You want me to fucking what!?" I sputtered.

"Quiet," she shushed me. "You'll spoil it if these oafs hear."

That started to bring me back. She was still testing me. If I'd been lying, and more that the person affected could see my illusions, then Roman and Junior would definitely react to that one.

"I just-" I shook my head. "Are you sure?"

She shrugged. "It's something we experience all the time isn't it? It should be easy for you to fill in the gaps. The feelings of vulnerability. The feeling of bare feet on a floor. The breeze of the air conditioner against your skin."

"Yeah, but I don't know what you look like…" I coughed and made a vague hand gesture towards her, "you know."

She smiled mischievously. "Well, I guess you'll just have to use your imagination, won't you?"

I don't know what type of mental warfare that you're used to having used on you, but I assure you that I wasn't ready for the combination of 'I'm confident enough to be nude in front of this crowd' and 'I want you to imagine me naked.' In retrospect, I guess that was the point. Cinder spotted something that she saw would make me uncomfortable and throw me off my game, and she exploited it.

How she figured that little detail about me out that fast, especially when I hadn't fully figured it out for myself, I don't know. Looking back, maybe it was more obvious than I thought.

Either way, I could tell from the look on her face that she expected something to happen sooner rather than later, so I shook it out and nodded.

"Yeah, ok. Sure thing."

"Do you need me to do anything?" She asked, eyeing me carefully.

"No, just uh, sit there and look…"

"Pretty?" She joked.

I swallowed. "Yeah."

"Excellent," she purred happily. Whether that was because she liked the idea that my Semblance didn't require any additional input from anyone but me, or because she was clearly making me uncomfortable, I have no idea. Regardless, I locked in on her and let my Semblance start to take hold.

Honestly, once I got started, the whole process was a lot less mortifying than I expected. I was much less worried about what I was creating than how I was creating it. Making sure the proportions matched what I was seeing and making some educated guesses on coloring, that I was recreating the feeling of a gentle breeze based off the temperature of the room, that the skin had the right texturing for the goosebumps starting to form over it. The overall picture of what you're making just gets lost in all the little details. Come to think of it, maybe that's how art students are able to draw all those nude models without having a breakdown in the middle of class.

The only difference was, I was fairly certain that my model might turn murderous if they didn't like my work.

I watched as Cinder looked down at herself, blinking in surprise and running a hand subtly over the now 'exposed' flesh of her side, before glancing over at Roman and Junior to confirm that they hadn't had any reaction. I could turn to look at them myself without breaking the connection with Cinder, but I'm guessing from the satisfied nod she gave that their expressions hadn't changed from the nervous terror that they'd been wearing since she walked into the room. A small smile crept onto her face again as she turned back to me.

"Thank you, Emerald. You may stop now."

I let out a long sigh of relief as I let the illusion fall and Cinder's clothes materialized back into place. I watched her straighten and fidget with them for a minute, which was a remarkably humanizing gesture, before coughing into my hand.

"Uh, so…"

"Hmm?" She hummed as she looked back up at me, before her eye lit up with understanding. "Oh, you want to know how you did."

"Yes, ma- Cinder," I acknowledged, fairly certain that it hadn't been too terrible, considering I was still here, but not sure exactly where that put me in the 'keep alive or not' lottery long-term.

"Well, you were off on a few details here and there. Some of them in a flattering way," she answered with a smirk. "But overall, I have to say that it was excellent work, Emerald. It was close enough to the real thing that I honestly don't know if I could have told the difference if I wasn't expecting it."

"Thank you," I forced out as I felt the tension drain from my body.

"Which is good, I was afraid I'd overestimated your abilities, and that would have just been too bad."

That caused me to stiffen right back up.

"Uh, glad not to disappoint," I rushed out.

"Me too, dear. I've started to take a liking to you," she said, brushing her hair back from her eye, "but business is business, and I was going to need something out of this meeting one way or the other."

"How do you mean? Use me how?" I asked, because my mouth runs about a half a beat faster than my brain. She tilted her head to the side and considered me like I'd just asked something particularly stupid.

"Well," she started slowly, "if you'd been unable to meet my expectations, then I would have been forced to make an example of you. A very public and permanent example," she finished in the same tone you'd use to explain to a child that fire is hot. "And most likely Roman and Junior too, just to be sure." She added with a quick glance over towards the men.

"But I-"

She cut me off with a raised hand.

"But it didn't come to that, now did it?" She asked, waiting for me to shake my head before continuing. She nodded, apparently pleased with my compliance.

"No, it didn't. Honestly, Emerald, I don't care what your reasons for being at that dock were. A misguided moment of conscience, a stunt to garner support for a stint in Beacon, or something else entirely. What matters now is that you're capable of fulfilling a very specific need that I have. And fulfill that need you will." She finished with a meaningful look back at Roman and Junior. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I can certainly pick up context clues when they're offered.

I swallowed, "what do you need me to do?"

She smiled warmly as she reached out and cupped my cheek with a hand. A damn near scalding hand. "Oh, don't worry about all the details just yet, my little jewel. All you need to know right now is that I need you close to me." Her smile curved up into a smirk. "In fact, I may just be making a dream of yours come true. If you're willing to use a little imagination."

I fought against my instincts to both pull away from her hand and ask exactly what the fuck that all meant. Instead, I said-

"When do I start?"

"Good girl," she cooed as she removed her hand, almost making me drop in the process. "And don't worry, I'll have someone drop by and give you the details. In the meantime, I need to talk to your former employer about how we'll be proceeding." She said, turning towards the door and gesturing for Roman to follow her. I watched as the thief seemed to both almost collapse in relief and slump in despair as he hopped down off his stool. He made his way after her, veering close enough to me that he could whisper 'fucking lucky,' to me before following her out the door, leaving Junior and myself alone in the bar. I turned back to the big guy, who currently had his head buried his head in his hands.

"Fucking maidens," he groaned.

"How close did we just come to dying?" I asked, suddenly feeling very weak in the knees.

"Hard to tell given that I've never fucking met her before tonight," he grumbled, fishing a whiskey bottle out from behind the bar, "but given the way Roman was shaking like a leaf every time you opened your mouth, I'd say we came pretty goddamn close."

"Oh fuck," I articulated as I dropped onto my ass.

"Oh fuck is right." He agreed, pouring himself a healthy shot and downing it. "I kept Roman off you because...it doesn't matter, but he's right about one thing. You came real fucking close to making sure that none of us got to see another sunrise, Em. You got anything to say about that shit?"

"They were gonna hurt people, Big Cat." I muttered numbly.

He snorted, "yeah, they were. Shit was fucked up, Em, it really was." He mused, pouring himself another shot. "But here's the thing, people are going to get hurt. There's not a goddamn thing that you or I can do about that at this point."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" I asked weakly.

He hummed as he threw back another shot and sighed, rubbing at his temples. "You survive, Em. There's nothing else to do at this point." He stopped before pouring himself another and stared me down. "You do whatever that murderous bitch tells you to do to make sure you and yours come out of this breathing."

"I-" I swallowed, trying to blink the tears out of my eyes "I don't even know what she wants."

He grunted, "Me neither, but I got a feeling that she does."

I cocked my head to the side and sniffled. "The fuck are you talking about-"

I froze as I felt the presence behind me. I looked up and saw an all too familiar face framed by brown and pink hair smiling down at me.

"Oh, you bit-"

Something feeling strangely like a knee dug into my back and drove me onto my face. I groaned as I pushed myself back up onto my hands and knees, slowly turning back towards the murderous imp.

"What the fuck do you want?" I growled up at her.

She frowned and tilted her head, jerking a thumb back toward the door to the bar.

"You're here for Cinder?"

Her frown deepened.

"You're here for Cinder on behalf of Roman?" I tried again.

She nodded tiredly and fished out her scroll, tapping away furiously. When she'd finished, she held the device out to me and waited for me to take it. I grunted as I snatched it from her hands. My eyes grew wide as the words on the device started to sink in.

"We're going to fucking Beacon!?"

She nodded happily, reaching for her scroll.

"The fuck we are!" I roared, holding the scroll to my chest. "Neo, do you have any idea how fucking suicidal that is? They know who I am! They know who you ar-"

A boot connecting with my chin sent me sprawling backwards. Withholding the scroll had probably been a bad idea. I groaned as the back of my head slammed against the floor.

"Fuck you," I hissed as I picked myself up, vision swimming. To my surprise, instead of the normal multicolored girl that I expected to see, there sat a monochrome dressed girl with deep green eyes and jet black hair. "Oh, I guess that makes sense," I grumbled. "What am I supposed to call you then?"

She huffed as she typed into her scroll before turning it back round, making sure to keep it out of my reach this time.

"Mint?" I read groggily. "And what about me? I don't know how good you think I am with makeup, but I've got a feeling I'm still going to stick out. Beacon tends to run a bit lighter than I do."

A wicked grin spread across her face that almost immediately made me regret asking. She flipped her scroll around and began tapping away. When she turned it back around, it was in selfie mode, which was confusing, but not nearly as confusing as what I saw staring back at me.

It was a beautiful young girl with pale, white skin, a short dark dress with long sleeves, and long, black hair hair tied back in a ponytail. All of which was attention grabbing, but the most stark feature had to be the deep, crimson eyes that were staring back at me in shock.

Neo smiled brightly as she flipped the scroll around and typed out another message for me.

'We're going to call you 'Bleiss''

I was a goddamn palette swapped Weiss.

"Oh, you can go fuck your-"

Was about as far as I got before I felt something slam into the side of my head and everything went dark. The last thing I heard was Junior chuckling darkly in the background.

Fuck these people.

* * *

**Memory Lane**

Cinder certainly isn't the first to want to use me for my Semblance. Just might have been the boldest about it, but she definitely didn't invent the concept. No, I've had everyone from gangs, thieves, con artists and everyone in between try to, and sometimes succeed in, obtaining my services.

Hey, a girl's gotta eat.

Hell, we even had a particularly shady business that you've almost certainly heard of stop by the house and try to talk Papa Arc into letting them use me to get a leg up on the competition.

It wasn't their best idea.

All that came later though. The first time that I got asked to use my Semblance for someone? Let's just say that it was a lot more personal.

There was this guy that I had a huge crush on, right? I know, the idea of someone as cool as me having crushes seems ridiculous, but what can I say?

It was high school, which I feel like is never a good look for any of us.

Anyway, his name was Bleu, and he was gorgeous. Ok, so maybe he was actually a bit gangly, and maybe he didn't really know how to wear his hair, and maybe he wasn't the snappiest dresser...but he was cute to me, dammit.

The only problem with said crush was that good ole' Bleu only had eyes for Tange. You remember Tange, don't you? Same girl that Jaune was head over heels for way back when, which meant that she was 0 for 2 in my book.

But damn, did Bleu have it bad for her. He'd follow her around school, he'd go to her cheer leading practices, he'd even write her letters. All of which would have been either cute or romantic, except for the fact that she'd turned him down every single he'd asked her out.

No accounting for tastes I guess.

Anyway, I decided that I needed to remedy Bleu's case of Tange-fever and get him on a more Em-centric program. The only issue with that is that I'm also a coward with a pretty healthy terror of trying to ask someone out. Luckily, a cure for this affliction has been invented.

Alcohol.

Lots and lots of alcohol.

And wouldn't you know it, Bleu was throwing a house party that weekend, which meant that both the ingredients for my plan to work would be in the same place at the same time. I was, however, having trouble getting Jaune to come to the party. Namely because he hadn't been invited. I tried to explain to him that I didn't think he understood how house parties worked if he was going to let him stop him, but he wouldn't budge.

His loss.

I ended up going to said house party and lo and behold, there was no Tange there, which was great news for me. Terrible news for Bleu though, who - from the way he was going after the bottle of rum he was holding - had probably thrown the party specifically to get Tange here. Being the team player that I am, I resolved to help him finish that bottle and forget about Tange.

For a while it was going pretty well. Bleu was laughing at my jokes, he showed me how to make a Mai Tai, we started leaning on each other. He seemed pretty into it.

Then it started going really well.

He asked me if I wanted to go upstairs.

It was a hell of a lot faster than I expected the whole thing to move and kinda scary, but I was more than a few drinks in and I liked him, so what the hell?

I'll spare you all the gory details, but you know how it goes. We ended up on the bed, hands roam, drunk kisses be sloppy, yadda yadda. It was pretty much all I could have hoped for out of my hair-brained plan, honestly. Which is why I guess it makes sense that life decided to take a big old crap on me when Bleu opened up his fat, dumb mouth and start talking again.

"Hey, um...Em?"

"Yeah?" I asked, probably not as bothered as I should have been by how long it took him to remember my name.

"You, uh, can do those illusion things, right?"

"You mean my Semblance?" I said, cocking my head to the side.

"Yeah, yeah, that's the one." He agreed, leaning back against the wall. "You can make people see all sorts of stuff, right?"

"Oh! For sure!" I blurted out, too slow to see where this was going. Instead, I started rattling off all the cool things that I could do with my Semblance, proud that Bleu thought it was interesting. He nodded along for a few minutes, sipping on his drink till I had tuckered myself out.

"Cool, that's cool." He nodded, setting his drink back down. "Hey, uh, do you think you could be Tange?"

The gears in my head ground to halt.

I'd love to tell you that I had some witty or scathing comeback to that, but I honestly don't know what I said. I know that we talked back and forth for a minute. I know that we both muttered some kind of apology when I got up to leave. I know that I left my jacket somewhere in the house and I had no intention of ever fucking coming back for it.

I don't remember how exactly I got back to the house, but to my surprise, when I came through the side door, there was Jaune - sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of those goddamn Pumpkin Pete's.

"You sure don't look like Papa Arc," I sniffled.

"I'll tell him you said so. He might want to have a word with the mailman." He replied around bites.

"Just wondering why you're waiting up on me, I guess. I didn't need you to." I said, because I was hurting and being an asshole.

He shrugged. "Who's waiting up for anybody? I'm just eating a bowl of cereal."

"Yeah? At 2 o'clock in the morning? Just got that hunger strike, huh?" I accused.

"Hey, I'm a growing boy." He shot back, waving his spoon at me.

"You're the worst fucking liar, Jaune."

"Probably," he agreed, watching me as he downed another spoonful. "You want some?"

"You know I hate it."

"I know you say you hate it." He countered.

I watched him for a second, then sighed. "Does it help soak up alcohol?"

He shrugged again. "Probably."

"Whatever." I muttered, grabbing a bowl from the cabinet and taking a seat beside him. He poured me a big bowl of the sugary crap and we ate in silence for a bit.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked after a minute.

"No." I answered, because I'm a liar.

And so we didn't. Instead, we ate another bowl of Pete's, then another, I think I started crying about the time he started to pour me the bowl after that. He pushed the silverware out of the way and held me till I was done and we both went to bed.

We still didn't talk about it, but I think we got close enough.

* * *

**Recovery**

**The hours and days after the gas attack were a haze. I remember being carried by lads with strong hands into a large, beige tent where I spent time going in and out of consciousness.**

**It wasn't until several days later that I found I could truly focus on anything without my eyes burning and demanding that I close them immediately.**

**And who should be standing above me but my old friend, Nyx, scribbling away in the tome he always kept on him.**

**"Nyx, is that you?" I asked hoarsely. His eyes lit up when he saw that I was awake.**

**"You're awake! Excellent!" He exclaimed. "I thought the gas may have gotten to you."**

**"Almost." I coughed, pushing myself up weakly with more than a little of his help. "Tell me, the others…"**

**"They're fine, recovering the same as you." He motioned to the rest of the tent behind us, filled with row after row of cots with sick men and women belonging to all three fandoms laid out on them. I shook my head in disgust.**

**"This is terrible."**

**"Aye," Nyx agreed, before shrugging defeatedly, "but this is the way it is."**

**"That's what they say," I muttered, looking glumly around the room at the broken soldiers draped over every available space. Suddenly, my eye caught on one of the forms laying down on the White Knight side of the room. A very peculiar, very familiar, bear that was both black and white. "But maybe it doesn't have to be…"**

**"Hm?" Nyx asked, confused.**

**"Nyx, could you carry a message to another wounded soldier for me? An enemy soldier?"**

**He hummed. "I suppose so. You're both non-combatants at the moment. Why?"**

**"I think I might just have an idea."**

* * *

Well folks, another weird chapter of this story in the books. If you enjoyed what you read, I have a ko-fi page as well.

It's ko-fi dot com slash jiu_jitsudude

If you feel like you'd like to throw in a few bucks, I'm honored. If not, I'm still going to keep on writing. It's cheaper than therapy


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